One does not have to be a combat soldier, or visit a refugee camp in Syria or the Congo to encounter trauma. Trauma happens to us, our friends, our families, and our neighbors ... traumatic experiences do leave traces, whether on a large scale (on our histories and cultures) or close to home, on our families, with dark secrets being imperceptibly passed down through generations. They also leave traces on our minds and emotions, on our capacity for joy and intimacy, and even on our biology and immune systems … Trauma, by definition, is unbearable and intolerable.”
-- The Author (Narration) (Prologue)

Importance: With this quote, the author introduces and sums up one of the book's central contentions: that trauma has many different triggers and many different forms, but ultimately a similar set of defining experiences, or behaviors.

I remember being surprised to hear this distinguished old Harvard professor [Elvin Semrad] confess how comforted he was to feel...
-- The Author (Narration) (chapter 2)