Genuine feelings cannot be produced, nor can they be eradicated. We can only repress them, delude ourselves, and deceive our bodies. The body sticks to the facts.

The more we idealize the past and refuse to acknowledge our childhood sufferings, the more we pass them on unconsciously to the next generation.

The victimization of children is nowhere forbidden; what is forbidden is to write about it.

What is addiction, really? It is a sign, a signal, a symptom of distress. It is a language that tells us about a plight that must be understood.

Wherever I look, I see signs of the commandment to honor one's parents and nowhere of a commandment that calls for the respect of a child.

For the human soul is virtually indestructible, and its ability to rise from the ashes remains as long as the body draws breath.

The reason why parents mistreat their children has less to do with character and temperament than with the fact that they were mistreated themselves and were not permitted to defend themselves.

Disrespect is the weapon of the weak

All children are born to grow, to develop, to live, to love, and to articulate their needs and feelings for their self-protection

We don't yet know, above all, what the world might be like if children were to grow up without being subjected to humiliation, if parents would respect them and take them seriously as people.

An unacknowledged trauma is like a wound that never heals over and may start to bleed again at any time.

I slept with her because she was hot and wanted me. Maybe we're dealing with the supernatural, but I'm still human.

Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you do hold well.

A good writer is basically a story-teller not a scholar or a redeemer of mankind.

I'm very practical and realistic.

I choose L'Arche; L'Arche chooses me. I would be dead if I weren't here. I need people to love me and care for me.

Not every ant which stays under the elephant's foot dies; the most powerful cannot always kill the weakest!

Women aren't the problem but the solution. The plight of girls is no more a tragedy than an opportunity.

We find not in the Gospel, that Christ hath anywhere provided for the uniformity of churches, but only for their unity.

It's not resources but resourcefulness that ultimately makes the difference.

Athletic skills are acquired over a long period of time and after countless hours of practice.