This is how....life happens. One small thing at a time. A series of inconsequential junctions, any or none of which can lead to salvation or disaster. There are no grand moments where a person does or does not perform the act that defines their humanity. There are only moments that appear, briefly, to be this way.

A weapon does not decide whether or not to kill. A weapon is a manifestation of a decision that has already been made.

Most argument, and in fact most conflict, has nothing to do with the present. It's always about the past or the future. People can't agree on the details of what has happened or is going to happen. But we rarely know what has happened, and we never know what is going to happen. What is really at dispute is how we will deal with not knowing.

It's a rare gift to understand that your life is wondrous, and that it won't last forever.

You don't choose what to believe. Belief chooses you.

Do they hate the idea of her, because she's different from them, and that in this difference there might be some sort of inferiority or superiority that is hers or theirs, that in the end threatens the potential happiness of everyone?

If you don't allow yourself the possibility of writing something very, very bad, it would be hard to write something very good.