Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 342.
Context: God is summoning you. Angels are summoning you. The myriads who have gone before are summoning you. We are surrounded by a "great cloud of witnesses." The battlements of the sky seem thronged with those who have fought the good fight of faith. They bend down from the eminence, and bid us ascend, through the one Mediator, to the same lofty dwelling.
“Suddenly summoned to witness something great and horrendous, we keep fighting not to reduce it to our own smallness.”
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John Updike 240
American novelist, poet, short story writer, art critic, an… 1932–2009Related quotes

“We are not a small people, we are maybe something of a great people.”
On n'est pas un petit peuple, on est peut-être quelque chose comme un grand peuple.
Victory speech, 1976 Quebec election. http://archives.radio-canada.ca/politique/partis_chefs_politiques/clips/6151/

“But they have miscalculated: We love our freedom, and we will fight to keep it”
2000s, 2006, State of the Union (January 2006)
Context: Lacking the military strength to challenge us directly, the terrorists have chosen the weapon of fear. When they murder children at a school in Beslan or blow up commuters in London or behead a bound captive the terrorists hope these horrors will break our will, allowing the violent to inherit the earth. But they have miscalculated: We love our freedom, and we will fight to keep it.

“Have you summoned your wits from wool-gathering?”
Act v. Sc. 3.
The Family of Love (co-written with Thomas Dekker, 1602-7)
Source: The Art of Racing in the Rain
Source: The Band That Played On (Thomas Nelson, 2011), pp. 153-154

“Even in the most horrendous situations there is always something to smile about.”
Mansfield, Karl. "The 5-Minute Interview: Stella Vine: 'There have been a few times" http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_/ai_n15873617, The Independent, (2005-11-28)
On her philosophy for life.