The Ascension of Mary Quotes

“My theory is that people are good and bad. They have to choose which one they want to be. Sometimes people are raised in a world that teaches them to hate others, and they think that’s okay. ”
― William West, The Ascension of Mary

“We come from different backgrounds. We are born into different worlds, different religions, different politics, different economic statuses, different races or combinations of races, but we are all the same. ”
― William West, The Ascension of Mary

“The past is only a memory, and the future is yet to be, but I feel strongly that learning from the past will help me face whatever the future brings.”
― William West, The Ascension of Mary

“Funny, the four of us sitting here,” Mary said, “even with all of our broken parts, we still fit together. I guess that’s what makes a family.”
― William West, The Ascension of Mary

“Sometimes I think that some people have a similar type of energy, almost like a magnetic fingerprint if there could be such a thing. It identifies people who belong together and draws them toward each other, even from great distances. ”
― William West, The Ascension of Mary

“Instinctively I had followed Mama’s caution against strangers, but she had also taught me to treat everyone the same no matter what or how different they were or what race they were. “These are only visible images,” Mama said, “like the colors and shapes of a painting. You need to look deeper to discover what the painting is about or how it affects you. It’s the same with people.”  ”
― William West, The Ascension of Mary

“That was his senior year,” Jonah said. “He was such a handsome young man. Destined for greatness. It’s hard to live with all the sadness and anger that erupts when a tragic thing happens, like what took my Jacob.”
― William West, The Ascension of Mary

“Hate can destroy people. It changes people until they can’t reason, can’t find a way out of their misery, and lose all hope of a better life. Then hate forces people to place the blame on others instead of themselves. Reality is the enemy of hate’s success, and love is the enemy of hate. ”
― William West, The Ascension of Mary

“We want the same happiness and comfort and love and security that will make our lives, however long or short, something that we feel was well-lived. We must first help our neighbors, friends, family, and even strangers before we can help ourselves. We cannot be selective or feel that we are better than anyone else in this world where we all want the same things. Only then, will we be able to leave this Earth with the peace of knowing that we gave ourselves to help others, and doing that, we helped ourselves, and doing that, we made this world a little better.”
― William West, The Ascension of Mary

“I have lived with evil all of my life, but that doesn’t make it any easier,” she said. “I don’t believe people like that man will ever change, so I try to focus all of my energy on good people, and I have learned to cherish good people like you.”
― William West, The Ascension of Mary

“When someone walks away from an airplane crash, the only survivor, and says, “I feel so blessed. God was watching over me,” this miracle doesn’t speak very highly of the decision to allow all the others on the plane to perish—good people, bad people, babies who haven’t even had a chance to decide if they want to be good or bad.”
― William West, The Ascension of Mary

“Some things you just have to have faith in, Jonah, whether you understand them or not.”
― William West, The Ascension of Mary