I’m telling you that you should doubt – as I do my own beliefs. The day on which you decide not to question what you believe, is the day that you start making excuses for why you believe it.

All that I wanted, I received All that I dreamed, I achieved All that I feared, I conquered All that I hated, I destroyed All that I loved, I saved And so I lay down my head, weary with despair For all that I needed, I lost.

Another evening gone, then. He was running out of those much faster than he would like.

Only for a great love would he take such a risk.

He broke this world. But he left some of its beauty, some of its joy. He knew enough to realize that sometimes beauty is a temptation and joy a call for inaction.

She was just like the rest of them – willfully ignorant, passionately believing in something because she surrounded herself with people who also passionately believed in the same thing. He knew the type, now – those who found it easier to listen to people who reinforced what they already thought, rather than actually considering the opinions of those who didn’t.

Evil men rarely convince others to their side by asking them to perform dark deeds for no good reason. They will always start with the lightest shade of gray. They so often use what seems like a good cause.

There is only one reason to be passionate about a lack of faith – and that is fear,” said Caeden quietly. “Fear that you are wrong. An innate need for others to share your opinion, so that you can be less afraid.” He shook his head. “I do not feel the need to argue, to cajole, to threaten or accuse. If others wish to believe differently, that is no business of mine. I simply do not think that there are gods.

Everyone has a darker nature, Caeden. Everyone. Good men fear it, and evil men embrace it. Good men are still tempted to do the wrong thing, but they resist those urges.

You can put your trust in something that’s obvious, that’s measurable or predictable – but that’s not faith. Nor is believing in something that gives you no pause for doubt, no reason or desire to question. Faith is something more than that. By definition, it cannot have proof as its foundation.