The strength and power of despotism consists wholly in the fear of resistance.

The turning point in the process of growing up is when you discover the core of strength within you that survives all hurt.

I am an example of what is possible when girls from the very beginning of their lives are loved and nurtured by people around them. I was surrounded by extraordinary women in my life who taught me about quiet strength and dignity.

Uncontrolled, the hunger and thirst after God may become an obstacle, cutting off the soul from what it desires. If a man would travel far along the mystic road, he must learn to desire God intensely but in stillness, passively and yet with all his heart and mind and strength.

What gives me the most hope every day is God's grace knowing that his grace is going to give me the strength for whatever I face, knowing that nothing is a surprise to God.