Emily

“Nagai thought that Japanese owed their strong feeling for beauty to their mothers. As girls, whether they came from wealthy homes or poor ones, they had all been trained in Japan’s thousand-year-old tradition of feminine refinement and grace. Learning that tradition was regarded as one of the essential preparations for marriage and was the reason why every town and village had flourishing classes in ikebana, or flower arrangement, and cha no yu, or tea ceremony. His thoughts winged back to his own mother. Everything she did, from the way she served common green tea at a meal to her bows of welcome and farewell to patients and callers, was done with grace. To Nagai, it was obvious that the mother was the central figure in Japanese life.”
― Paul Glynn, A Song for Nagasaki: The Story of Takashi Nagai a Scientist, Convert, and Survivor of the Atomic Bomb

“Bamboo and pine denote endurance and fidelity. No matter how cold the winter or how torrid the summer, they remain green and vigorous.”
― Paul Glynn, A Song for Nagasaki: The Story of Takashi Nagai a Scientist, Convert, and Survivor of the Atomic Bomb

“You best meet the Supernatural if you make your heart like a hut that is empty of everything but the bare essentials.”
― Paul Glynn, A Song for Nagasaki: The Story of Takashi Nagai a Scientist, Convert, and Survivor of the Atomic Bomb

“God has never said you have to perform great deeds for your country and humanity to have lived well. Where would that leave all the sick people in the world? Look at me, for instance, needing to be assisted all the time. You wouldn't say that we sick and bedridden of the world are 'useful'! But usefulness is not the point. Our lives are of great worth if we accept with good grace the situation Providence places us in and go on living lovingly. A sick person who has grasped this will live so full a life that there will be no room for morbid death wishes.”
― Paul Glynn, A Song for Nagasaki: The Story of Takashi Nagai a Scientist, Convert, and Survivor of the Atomic Bomb