You might think I lost all hope at that point. I did. And as a result I perked up and felt much better.

You must take life the way it comes at you and make the best of it.

I ask you, is it the fig tree's fault that it's not the season for figs? What kind of thing is that to do to an innocent tree, wither it instantly?

I preferred to set off and perish in search of my own kind than to live a lonely half-life of physical comfort and spiritual death on this murderous island.

The presence of God is the finest of rewards.

Atheists are my brothers and sisters of a different faith, and every word they speak speaks of faith. Like me, they go as far as the legs of reason will carry them -- and then they leap.

In my youth, it was my good luck to have a few good teachers, men and women, who came into my head and lit a match.