Deathwatch by Robb White

"Just because it's a little town way out in the desert doesn't make the people meaner or dumber than anywhere else. They'll believe the truth when they hear it just as fast as anybody else. And if you think they envy you being a dude from the city you're wrong about that, too. They like it where they live, that's why they live there." p. 34

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Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover

"You are not fool's gold, shining only under a particular light. Whomever you become, whatever you make yourself into, that is who you always were. It was always in you." [quoting Dr. Kerry of BYU] p. 242 "To admit uncertainty is to admit weakness, to powerlessness, and to believe in yourself despite both...In this frailty there is strength: the conviction to live in your own mind, and not someone else's. I have often wondered if the most powerful words I wrote that night [were] I don't know. I just don't know. Not knowing for certain, but refusing to give way to those who claim certainty, was a privilege I had never allowed myself." p. 197 *It was interesting to see how the author's experiences affected her life and her faith. It helps me remember to try not to judge because I have no idea what people have gone through and why they do some of the things they do.

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

"...the Count had restricted himself to two succinct pieces of parental advice. The first was that if one did not master one's circumstances, one was bound to be mastered by them; and the second was Montaigne's maxim that the surest sign of wisdom is constant cheerfulness." p. 419 "...he was wise enough to know that life does not proceed by leaps and bounds. It unfolds...Our faculties wax and wane, our experiences accumulate, and our opinions evolve--if not glacially, then at least gradually. Such that the events of an average day are as likely to transform who we are as a pinch of pepper is to transform a stew." p. 402 "For his part, the Count had opted for the life of the purposefully unrushed. Not only was he disinclined to race toward some appointed hour--disdaining even to wear a watch--he took the greatest satisfaction when assuring a friend that a worldly matter could wait in favor of a leisurely lunch or a stroll along the embankment.....

Bridges: Ministering to Those Who Question by David Ostler

"'...listening affirms people. Indeed, it is one of the highest forms of affirmation. When we listen, we invite another person to exist.' Listening and allowing people to talk helps them clarify their thoughts and find ways to sort through the challenges they face with someone who supports them." p. 107 "If we don't help them, they may lose trust that the Church and its leadership can answer the questions that are important to them. Many faith-challenging issues don't have clear answers; we simply don't know enough, so in addition to communicating the best information we have, we may need to help others see a pathway of faith even in the absence of straightforward answers." p. 137 "'I needed someone to show me that it was love that was the strongest and largest cord that bound us together, not our common belief in the Church." p. 157 "With Christ as our example, we minister, listen to, understand, and are blessed by...

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