"The martyr is a man who has made a decision strong enough to be proved by death.

The solitary is a man who has made a decision strong enough to be proved by the wilderness: that is to say, by death. For the wilderness is full of uncertainty and peril and humiliation and fear, and the solitary lives all day long in the face of death. Hence it is clear that the solitary is the martyr's younger brother.

It is the Holy Spirit Himself Who makes the decision that segregates martyrs and solitaries in Christ."

~ Thomas Merton