Most of us can hide our greatest hurts and longings. It’s how we survive each day. We pretend the pain isn’t there, that we are made of scars instead of wounds.

I think strong men show strength, but great men show strength tempered by compassion

I don’t want to wear this anymore,” I pleaded. “It’s a servant’s uniform.”“It’s a soilder’s uniform.

If you cannot bear our pain, you are not fit to carry our strength.

I was just a girl again, but this girl didn’t owe her strength to fate or chance or a grand destiny. I’d been born with my power; the rest I’d earned.