" ruby comes from the rock being crushed for millions of years, fine leather from the harshness of tanning, and fine wine from the crushing and fermentation of the grapes, so we might regard the sufferings of our life as refinements that are tanning us, fermenting us, transforming and deepening us. Brought into consciousness with acceptance rather than resentment, the ill treatment that we suffer at our own and others’ hands is transformed into divine pressure that is molding and shaping the Godself within. "

― Jean Houston , Mystical Dogs: Animals as Guides to Our Inner Life