A little learning is a dangerous thing... But too much can be pretty useless.

"The Root of All Suffering" was originally published in the Fall 2007 issue of The First Line, a magazine specializing in short fiction where all stories in the issue must begin with the same opening line.

EXCERPT FROM
The Root of All Suffering

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      Calvin once complained that there were not enough true martyrs in the world. It was in a sermon entitled "On Suffering Persecution," probably composed in the 1530's. The text of it is known to the world, known to me, from a 1906 treatise on The World's Famous Orations, compiled by William Jennings Bryan. The context of it, if I recall correctly, involved the observation that few seemed ready to suffer for their faith, even among those who practically invite persecution through misguided beliefs.

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