God doesn’t need to punish us. He just grants us a long enough life to punish ourselves.

It's surprising how much memory is built around things unnoticed at the time.

I grew up aware of all the people I depended on and who depended on me.

What we end up calling history is a kind of knife, slicing down through time. A few people are hard enough to bend its edge. But most won't even stand close to the blade. I'm one of those. We don't bend anything.

There's always more to a story than a body can see from the fenceline.

the conspicuous consumption of limited resources has yet to be accepted widely as a spiritual error, or even bad manners

You see mother, you had no life of your own. They have no idea. One has only a life of one's own.