John Merick, otherwise known as the Elephant Man, suffered from hideous disfigurements. However, beneath his exterior features was said to be a noble, gentle man who accepted his fate as coming from G-d. Below is some poetry attributed to him. Let us learn from this man how powerful faith in G-d is and how the soul is the measure of a man.
"’Tis true my form is something odd,
but blaming me is blaming god.
Could I create myself anew,
I would not fail in pleasing you.
Was I so tall, could reach the pole,
or grasp the ocean with a span;
I would be measured by the soul.
The mind’s the standard of the man."
– a poem often quoted by Joseph Carey Merrick
[http://www.phreeque.com/joseph_merrick.html]
[http://www.victorianweb.org/books/suicide/06b.html]