Pope Joan

As for will, woman should be considered superior to man for Eve ate of the apple for love of knowledge and learning, but Adam ate of it merely because she asked him.

There was always a way, when one knew what one wanted.

But she had known, better than anyone else, what demons he had faced, had known how hard he had fought to free himself from them. That he had lost the fight in the end made the struggle no less honorable.

Strange the workings of the heart. One could go on for years, habituated to loss, reconciled to it, and then, in a moments unwary thought, the pain resurfaced, sharp and raw as a fresh wound.

Heed my words, daughter, if you ever mean to be happy: Never give yourself to a man.

She had discovered that her love of knowing was not unnatural or sinful but the direct consequence of a God-given ability to reason.

Who was to know what went on in a person's heart? A wise woman kept her own counsel.

This was the price for the the strange life she had chosen, but she had gone into it with eyes open, and there was no profit in regret.

Is it not lack of faith that leads men to fear the scrutiny of reason? If the destination is doubtful, than the path must be fraught with fear. A robust faith need not fear, for if God exists, then reason cannot help but lead us to Him. Cogito, ergo Deus est,'says St. Augustine, I think, therefore God is.

Why, she wondered, do we always reserve our worst hatred for our own?

The bud of a rose grows in darkness. It knows nothing of the sun, yet it pushes at the darkness that confines it until at last the walls give way and the rose bursts forth, spreading its petals into the light. I love him.

What is life? The joy of the blessed, the sorrow of the sad, and a search for death. And what is death? An inevitable happening, an uncertain pilgrimage, the tears of the living, the thief of man.

To marry is to surrender everything—not only your body but your pride, your independence, even your life.

Thunder sounded, very near, and the child woke.

She did not care about anything very much. Hope was gone. She existed that was all.

Why the woman is better...though she was created second she was made from Adam's side whole Adam was made from common clay. Woman should be preferred to man because Eve was created inside Paradise, but Adam was created outside. As for will, woman should be considered superior to man-for Eve ate of the apple for the love of knowledge and learning, but Adam ate of it merely because she asked him.

It was a child's awareness, never spoken or even fully acknowledged, but deeply felt.

Shattered by the cumulative effect of so much horror and death, Joan was again afflicted by a crisis of faith. How could a good and benevolent God let such a thing happen? How could He so terribly afflict even children and babies, who were not guilty of any sin?

...for Eve ate of the apple for love of knowledge and learning, but Adam ate of it merely because she asked him.

Would he be happy? Joan hoped so. But somehow he seemed a man fated always to yearn after that which he could not have, to choose for himself the rockiest, most difficult path. She would pray for him, as for all the other sad and troubled souls who must travel roads alone.

primicerius? He was young, it was

Eran extraños los caminos del corazón. Uno podía pasar años habituado a una pérdida, resignado, y después, con un pensamiento casual, el dolor volvía a la superficie, agudo y desnudo como una herida reciente.