Ok, so my husband is the person who said–and says–most of these things to me. And no, people aren’t generally quite as specific or direct as this. But perhaps, if you know […]
The Best Things People Said to Me After My Sister Died
What She Said, September 13: Aditi Khorana
Company is sometimes the best thing we can give each other. It can be a balm for all the fear, loss, and anguish in the world. -Aditi Khorana
What She Said, September 12: Zora Neale Hurston
I have known the joy and pain of friendship. I have served and been served. I have made some good enemies for which I am not a bit sorry. I have loved unselfishly, and I have fondled hatred with the red-hot tongs of Hell. That’s living. -Zora Neale Hurston
What She Said, September 11: N.K. Jemisin
So here is why I write what I do: we all have futures. We all have pasts. We all have stories. And we all, every single one of us, no matter who we are and no matter what’s been taken from us or what poison we’ve internalized or how hard we’ve had to work to expel it–we all get to dream. -N.K. Jemisin
What She Said, September 10: Terri Windling
Fairy tales were not my escape from reality as a child; rather, they were my reality–for mine was a world in which good and evil were not abstract concepts, and like fairy-tale heroines, no magic would save me unless I had the wit and courage to use it widely. –Terri Windling
What She Said, September 9: Jane Yolen
A child who can love the oddities of a fantasy book cannot possibly be xenophobic as an adult. What is a different color, a different culture, a different tongue for a child who has already mastered Elvish, respected Puddlegums, or fallen under the spell of dark-skinned Ged? –Jane Yolen
Why I Fly the American Flag
I fly the American flag in front of my house to remind me of the radical freedoms I have as a U.S. citizen. As an American woman, seeing the flag as […]
What She Said, September 8: Doris Lessing
Ideally, what should be said to every child, repeatedly, throughout his or her school life is something like this: “You are in the process of being indoctrinated. We have not yet evolved a system of education that is not a system of indoctrination….what you are being taught here is an amalgam of current prejudice and the choices of this particular culture. The slightest look at history will show how impermanent these must be….Those of you who are more robust and individual than others will be encouraged to leave and find ways of educating yourself…those that stay must remember, always, and all the time, that they are being molded and patterned to fit into the narrow and particular needs of this particular society.” -Doris Lessing
What She Said, September 7: Michelle Obama
No country can ever truly flourish if it stifles the potential of its women and deprives itself of the contributions of half of its citizens. -Michelle Obama
What She Said, September 6: Madeleine L’Engle
Our truest response to the irrationality of the world is to paint or sing or write, for only in such repose do we find truth. – Madeleine L’Engle
