" Long ago I read a story from another timeline about a character named
Candide. He also survived a harrowing series of misadventures and
tragedies, then settled on a farm near Constantinople. Listening to a
philosophical rant, Candide replied, 'That is all very well, but now we
must tend our garden.' I have now arrived at that point in my own story.
There is a metaphorical garden in the acts and attitudes of a person's
life, and the treasures of that garden are love and respect. I have come
to realize that the gathering of love and respect - from others and for
myself - has been the real quest of my life.
'Now we must tend our
garden.' "
