"Calamity is man's true touchstone." - FRANCIS BEAUMONT AND JOHN FLETCHER, Four Plays in One: The Triumph of Honor

"Fate is not satisfied with inflicting one calamity." - PUBLILIUS SYRUS, Maxims

"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