Definitions HQ

Comfort (n.) can ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠be the torment itself: that despair does not consume him is precisely what keeps life in the pain.

Comfort (n.) smothers ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠faith as featherbeds and mattresses smother a fire; clear away the bulky stuff and there will be fire again.

Comfort (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the one thing Abraham dare not give, lest Sarah, Eleazar and Isaac ask 'Why wilt thou do it? Thou canst refrain' — or think him a hypocrite.

Comfort (n.) from ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠another man cannot reach the deepest trials; the utmost he can do is help you become your own comforter, as the most he can do in penitence is make you your own preacher.

Comfort (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the city's maximum: a happy youth, a marriage, a good family doctor, a pious pastor one trusts more than oneself, like-minded families — and then one died. Better to have heard the howl of the wolf and learned to know God.