Bernard Beckett — New Zealander Writer born on December 29, 1967,

Bernard Beckett is a New Zealand writer of fiction for young adults. His work includes novels and plays. Beckett has taught Drama, Mathematics and English at a number of high schools in the Wellington Region, and is currently teaching students at Hutt Valley High School in Lower Hutt... (wikipedia)

Human spirit is the ability to face the uncertainty of the future with curiosity and optimism. It is the belief that problems can be solved, differences resolved. It is a type of confidence. And it is fragile. It can be blackened by fear and superstition.
Thought, like any parasite, cannot exist without a compliant host.
The successful Idea travels from mind to mind, claiming new territory, mutating as it goes.
Superstition is the need to view the world in terms of simple cause and effect.
There is a fascination with fear. It grabs our attention.