When compassion wakes up in us, we find ourselves more willing to become vulnerable, to take the risk of entering the pain of others.

I tried to imagine a church that did not support its country's wars as a matter of patriotic course and instead stood against the devastation and suffering they caused in people's lives." (from 'The Dance of the Dissident Daughter'.)

Novels attempt to render human experience; that's really all they are. They are meant to convey empathy for the character.

You have to find a mother inside yourself. We all do. Even if we already have a mother, we still have to find this part of ourselves inside

How could I choose someone who would force me to give up my own small reach for meaning? I chose myself, and without consolation.

The awakening passed from simple recognition of my need for God at the center of my life, to a depth where the will is stirred And that is a deeper place by far. That is the place of response, of unifying one's heart, mind, soul and feet around a decision.

I marvel at how good I was before I met him, how I lived molded to the smallest space possible, my days the size of little beads that passed without passion through my fingers. So few people know what they're capable of. At forty-two I'd never done anything that took my own breath away, and I suppose now that was part of the problem - my chronic inability to astonish myself.