For the solution to chronic pain may lie more in what goes on around us than in what is going on inside us. - Atul Gawande

He moved his line in the sand. This is what it means to have autonomy — you may not control life's circumstances, but getting to be the author of your life means getting to control what you do with them.

All we ask is to be allowed to remain the writers of our own story. That story is ever changing. Over the course of our lives, we may encounter unimaginable difficulties. Our concerns and desires may shift. But whatever happens, we want to retain the freedom to shape our lives in ways consistent with our character and loyalties.

One essential characteristic of modern life is that we all depend on systems — on assemblages of people or technologies or both — and among our most profound difficulties is making them work.