Maria McCann

“Whatever makes a man a beast also renders him pitiable. But it behoves us to be wary of these bestial men despite our compassion, for they frequently turn on their friends.”

“I mean that repeated offences, even when they secure forgiveness, drive out love. And from that I came to say that one may compel obedience but never love.”

“Behold,' said the Voice, 'earthly beauty. It is nothing but seeming, for to the uninstructed eye the world appears fruitful and sweet, yet in it is nothing but a pile of skulls, showing where others were lost as they went before.”

“How did men make themselves loved, I wondered. I had passed all my life with men who were loved but I seemed never to have learnt the lesson.”

“I dig and plough at your command,' I replied, 'but you will not tell me how to shit.”