Judith Merkle Riley quotes:

Why the Romans, Father?" I asked him one afternoon. "Because, my child, they teach us how to bear suffering in a world of injustice where all faith is dead," he answered.

A cat improves the garden wall in sunshine, and the hearth in foul weather.

I could feel something cold stalking my heart. It was fear. They all begin this way, I thought, with pledges of love.