Reading Words Of Wisdom

Safety has a lot of meanings. Personal safety: lock you doors; arm your alarm systems; look both ways when crossing the street. Have annual doctor's checkups; take your vitamins; don't turn your back on the ocean; cliffs crumble.

But the safety of a nation? How can you control that? There is no way to guard against hijacked planes, hurricanes, massive oil spills, earthquakes. But far worse is the steady rot from within, as society splinters and fragments and no side gives ground on any important issue. Thinly masked racial hatred, each religion claiming that its dogma is the only way to salvation, apathy, the closing of formerly open minds. Fear is a rotten emotion, and in one way or another it had us all in its grip.
- Marcia Muller in City of Whispers: A Sharon McCone Mystery