"Calamities are of two kinds: misfortune to ourselves, and good fortune to others." - Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

"Public calamity is a mighty leveller." - Edmund Burke, speech (1775)

"When any calamity has been suffered the first thing to be remembered is, how much has been escaped." - Samuel Johnson

"Out of the experience of an extraordinary human disaster that lasted too long, must be born a society of which all humanity will be proud." - Mandela, Nelson in his inauguration speech 10 May 1994