A Spark of Light

by Jodi Picoult

The question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? —REVEREND DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING,

Coal, with time and heat and pressure, will always become a diamond. But if you were freezing to death, which would you consider the gem?

She wondered if the only way any of us can find what we stand for is by first locating what we stand against.

We are all drowning slowly in the tide of our opinions, oblivious that we are taking on water every time we open our mouths.

The reason you hold on to someone too tightly isn’t always to protect them—sometimes it’s to protect yourself.

She had her doubts, though, about whether God believed in her.

If he had learned anything during his years as an abortion doctor, it was this: there was nothing on God’s green earth that would stop a woman who didn’t want to be pregnant.

When you say you can’t do something because your religion forbids it, that’s a good thing. When you say I can’t do something because your religion forbids it, that’s a problem.”