"I have brought myself to realise that a human being is much more human than the outward appearance conveys. Sometimes you can't see the real person anymore, he or she is somehow concealed, and only someone very close knows that there's a human being, others see someone who's sick, old, tottering, or I myself see that. You have to live a bit longer in order to learn to believe that a human is still a human long after the external signs have faded. I'm teaching myself to see in this way. Previously I only looked, now perhaps I'll learn to see ... now that would be something."
(Rafael Wardi 1997)

Edit: I thought I'd share a story behind the quote. Rafael Wardi is a Finnish painter/colorist. His now gone wife was diagnosed to have Alzheimer's and was transferred to a nursing home. He started visiting the nursing home daily and eventually started working there, obviously having to change from oils to other media. I've seen only a couple of those pastels on his wife and other residents in real life and others on the internet but they are least said touching, very human and beautiful. This quote I also read by the time I saw them a few years ago and it's been staying in my mind ever since.
Another note about the image, sorry for not being clear and going personal, just wanted to create me another small memory of the nursing home I visit all too seldom even if I wanted to be there much more. It's a few hours drive. The pennant on the window seal, if you wonder, is of Finnish War Veterans Association, referring to the 1940's Finnish wars.