Children were the foot wedged in the closing door, the glimmer of hope that in reincarnation there would be some house to go to, even if one came back as a dog, or a mouse, or a flea that lived on the bodies of men. If..there was a raising of the dead, then a child would be sure to see that its parents were awakened.
Abraham Verghese, "Cutting for Stone"
At the top of my favorites of all time list. I loved this book.