You don't share a language, you think, and then you realise, grief is a language. We understand each other, people with troubled pasts. - Elif Şafak

There was something childlike in the way grown-ups had a need for stories. They held a naive belief that by telling an inspiring anecdote-the right fable at the right time-they could lift their children's moods, motivate them to great achievements and simply change reality. There was no point in telling them that life was more complicated than that and words less magical than they presumed.

"بعض الناس يتغذون عبى تعاسات الآخرين، ولا يحبّون رؤية أن ينخفض عدد البؤساء على وجه الأرض".

My life is complete and fulfilled, in that I have been blessed with the three things I hold most dear: knowledge, virtue, and the capability to help others find God.