"History is not prelude," she said once. "We don't justify the suffering of people in the past because everything turned out well enough by the time we came along. Their suffering counts just as much as our peace and happiness. We look out of our golden windows and feel pity for the scenes of blood and blades, of plagues and famines that are played out in the surrounding country. When we believed that we could not go back in time and make changes, then we could be excused for shedding a tear for them and then going on about our happy lives. But once we know that it is in our power to help them, then, if we turn away and let their suffering go on, it is no golden age we live in, and we poison our own happiness. Good people do not let others suffer needlessly."

"To reach into the past and prevent the disease is better than to take the patient at the point of death and slowly, slowly bring her back to health."

Do I want to become rich and influential in order to serve God? Or do I serve God in hopes that it will make me rich and influential?

How did Columbus manage it, boldly creating a future? Only because he knew so little of how futures could go wrong, Hunahpu decided, only because of ignorance could he shape the world so fearlessly.

"Because to you I'm not a human being, I'm a dog, less than a dog, because you would not beat a dog, would you? ... you can teach them the gospel of Christ and baptize them, but that doesn't stop you from wanting to make slaves of them and steal their gold from them."
"You can teach a dog to walk on its hind legs, but that doesn't make it a man."

Labels: literary

posted by Jennifer at 10/17/2006 03:27:00 PM