But the mother was marvellous above all, and worthy of honourable memory: for when she saw her seven sons slain within the space of one day, she bore it with a good courage, because of the hope that she had in the Lord.

Mothers are inscrutable beings to their sons, always. ("The Higgler")

You just stood up to your mother.... I should think now you could take on the world.

She also understood there was a hole in her heart where her son should be, that she was a wicked, selfish woman for wishing him back.

Mothers see the angel in us because the angel is there. If it's shown to the mother, the son has got an angel to show, hasn't he? When a son cuts somebody's throat the mother only sees it's possible for a misguided angel to act like a devil - and she's entirely right about that!

When Jack Burns needed to hold his mother's hand, his fingers could see in the dark.