Quotes from Alan Brennert

And sometimes she would dream again of being Namakaokahai'i, her waves rolling across burled coral beds, scattering moonlight, cresting higher and higher the farther she traveled over the reef. She was a colossus of water and motion soaring toward the black crescent of 'Awahuua Bay, her soul perched on the curling lip of the wave, riding it in the only way she could now; she felt the mana, the power in her waves, felt the rumble in her ocean depths.....

An empty cart rattles loudly," she said, meaning, One who lacks substance boasts loudest.

Moloka'i. It was not a name spoken lightly in these islands. Sometimes it was called "Moloka'i of the potent prayers," known for centuries as the home of powerful sorcerers capable of praying men to death, of sending giant fireballs hurtling across the sea, fiery planets of destruction seeking out hapless victims. Today the island was still an object of fear and fascination; but for very different reasons.

Old Korean adage, Even jade has flaws. Or, in other words: Nothing in life is ever perfect.

No, in the end what persuaded me was simply Ã¢â'¬Â¦ that he had asked me. My father would have made such a decision on his own and only informed my mother after the fact. That Jae-sun sought my opinion—my consent—meant more to me than I could say. And because of that, I could not gainsay him this job.

She laughed at that, and finally accepted the gift. "Thank you," she said, bowing, "for your kampana." This was a Buddhist term that spoke of when "good people's hearts are moved" to do a compassionate act. "May I ask the name of our benefactor?

I liked the fact that the happiest night of my life was followed by a day like any other. It seemed to say that such happiness, so long denied, was now a part of my everyday life.

It slowly dawned on the volunteers that they were not patients but subjects; separated from their friends and community in Kalaupapa, they felt like outcasts among outcasts.

Ruth marveled at how two souls— two completely different species— could make each other so happy. If you were kind to animals, they repaid that kindness a thousandfold.

People disappointed; animals never did.

We are together, all else can be endured.

Her grief was a storm, a driving rain falling too fast to be absorbed

I am secure in the knowledge that I am the mother of your heart, Etsuko said, smiling. But she is the mother of your blood. She deserves to see what a fine woman you have become

She listened to a life's story that was, she discovered, richer than it was sad.

She poked and jabbed until it bled, but felt no pain; it might as well have been someone else's flesh, someone else's body. She looked up at the pali, at the trail she had ascended years before, and cursed herself for a fool. She could have stayed topside, traveled, loved, married, lived! But she came back, damn it. She thought of all she'd given up in that moment, places she couldn't imagine and would never know, and she wept. Night fell on her sorrows.

She learned what 'ohana truly meant, and that she was a part of it. She began to understand that none of this could replace or usurp the family she had always known, but only enriched what she already possessed. With wonder and a growing absence of fear she realized: I am more than I was an hour ago.

Fear is our boon companion but never our master.

I'm lucky, you see: I had two mothers. One gave life to me; one raised me. But they both loved me. You know, some people don't even get that once... There's only one disadvantage, really, to having two mothers. You know twice the love... but you grieve twice as much.

She'd been prepared to lose Kenji to leprosy, but not to this. Not to anger and hatred - a hatred which had infected her in turn, for she was possessed by an incendiary fury which she could not imagine would ever be extinguished.

If that is your God, Father Kamiano, your Jehovah, who would condemn a kind and tender man to hell for the sin of not believing in him—then I shall follow my Keo to hell, as I followed him to this one, and together we spit on your God and his heaven!

She began to understand that none of this could replace or usurp the family she had always known, but enriched what she already possessed. With wonder and a growing absence of fear she realized, I am more than I was an hour ago.

God didn't give man wings; He gave him the brain and the spirit to give himself wings. Just as He gave us the capacity to laugh when we hurt, or to struggle on when we feel like giving up.

I listened, rapt and silent, as he conjured from the cold black type the image of a woman of many years past, shivering in the chill predawn light as she waited for the sun to rise.

She leaned back in the bed and smiled, feeling excited at the prospect; feeling hope.