John P.

“another reason why the good are afflicted with temporal calamities--the reason which Job's case exemplifies:that the human spirit may be proved, and that it may be manifested with what fortitude of pious trust, and with how unmercenary a love, it cleaves to God.”
― Augustine of Hippo, St. Augustine of Hippo: The City of God

“Smith answered immediately, writing at midnight on June 22. “We dare not come,” he insisted—three times. “Your Excellency promises protection. Yet, at the same time, you have expressed fears that you could not control”
― Alex Beam, American Crucifixion: The Murder of Joseph Smith and the Fate of the Mormon Church

“Yes, indeed, if some of these boys are a bit soft and chicken-hearted and hesitate, they shoot them immediately, a dozen bullets through the skin and that’s that. In a way it’s got to be done and what does it matter to the officers? They get their pesetas all the same and that’s all they care about.”
― Marcel Proust, Time Regained [In Search of Lost Time vol. 7]

“In war, rational decisions are made for less than rational situations.”
― Dan Carlin, The End Is Always Near: Apocalyptic Moments, from the Bronze Age Collapse to Nuclear Near Misses