Without freedom, the soul of man perishes long before the body dies. And if nothing else, the haunting specter of a soulless humanity should stir us to patriotism of the greatest sort.

Maybe being a hero is deciding to step up on behalf of another at great expense to oneself because that is the essence our humanity. And if such actions are heroic, maybe they are not heroic because we decided to embrace that essence. Rather, maybe they’re heroic because we chose not to reject it.

Instinct is all of our humanity being deliberately honest with all of life.

We tend to deny our humanity because in accepting the fullness of it, we would need to confess how little we’ve done with it.

The thing that maintains my confidence in my fellowman is realizing that the choices that they make might be a reflection of who they, but they are not a reflection of who they could be.

It is far wiser to speak to someone’s humanity than to criticize their behaviors.

We are not built for mediocrity, but we build it into our lives nonetheless.

When I reach out to you in the midst of our differences, I want there to be nothing in my hand except the compassion of the human attached to that hand.

To judge someone is to say that I have the right to define who they are, verses understanding that God has handed me the priceless privilege of discovering who they are.