The Testament

If you're gonna be stupid you gotta be tough.

Shame was an emotion he had abandoned years earlier. Addicts know no shame. You disgrace yourself so many times you become immune to it.

When witnesses concoct lies, they often miss the obvious.

In one long glorious acknowledgment of failure, he laid himself bare before God.

Four rehabs meant a fifth was somewhere down the road.

He'd had his career, his triumphs. Success had brought him nothing but misery; he couldn't handle it. Success had thrown him in the gutter

It wouldn't pay to get fresh with a missionary.

I believe in God,” he said, truthfully but weakly. “It’s easy to say that,” she said, her words still slow and soft. “And I don’t doubt you. But saying is one thing, living is another matter.