Danielle > Danielle's Quotes

“Sometimes books don't find us until the right time.”
― Gabrielle Zevin, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

“All of old. Nothing else ever. Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
― Samuel Beckett, Worstward Ho

“The best books, he perceived, are those that tell you what you know already.”
― George Orwell, 1984

“The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power.”
― George Orwell, 1984

“There will be no art, no literature, no science. When we are omnipotent we shall have no more need of science. There will be no distinction between beauty and ugliness. There will be no curiosity, no enjoyment of the process of life. All competing pleasures will be destroyed. But always—do not forget this, Winston—always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler. Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless.”
― George Orwell, 1984

“Try listening, maybe. Hear what is being said. And remember that it’s not about you. American Blacks are not telling you that you are to blame. They are just telling you what is.”
― Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Americanah

“When you use the “nude” color of underwear and Band-Aids, do you already know that it will not match your skin?”
― Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Americanah

“Half the people I know have dead animals in their freezers: reptiles, birds, mammals. Is that normal?”
― David Sedaris, Theft by Finding: Diaries 1977-2002

“It occurred to me almost constantly in the South that had I lived there I would have been an eccentric and full of anger, and I wondered what form the anger would have taken. Would I have taken up causes, or would I have simply knifed somebody?”
― Joan Didion, South and West: From a Notebook

“About the cathouse: the notion that an accepted element in the social order is a whorehouse goes hand in hand with the woman on a pedestal.”
― Joan Didion, South and West: From a Notebook

“At an early age I learned that people make mistakes, and you have to decide if their mistakes are bigger than your love for them.”
― Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give

“I am not asking everyone to be activists. I am not asking everyone to march on the front lines. I am not asking every writer, public figure, or celebrity to lead social movements. I am not asking them to make speeches on how they have a dream. I am, however, challenging people not to stay silent as the world crumbles. You do not have to yell. Even a whisper of truth matters in an echo chamber of lies.”
― Luvvie Ajayi, I'm Judging You: The Do-Better Manual

“Dear good white people (you know who you are), I have a secret to tell you: There is no such thing. There are only white people who work to do good, just things. You are an ally because of your actions, not because you say you are. You're an ally when you call out racist comments, when you listen and learn, when you work in solidarity with people of color to dismantle institutional racism, when your efforts and actions are felt by others. Not just when you wear a safety pin.”
― Kate Schatz

“The Witch, however, is a woman who stands entirely on her own. She is more often than not an outsider, and her gift is transformation. She is a change agent, and her work is sparked by speech: an incantation, a naming, a blessing, a curse.”
― Taisia Kitaiskaia, Literary Witches: A Celebration of Magical Women Writers

“Directions to an Audre Lorde lecture take you to a cave. Audre hands you a torch and a sword at the entrance. The torch is for finding the hieroglyphics inside. The sword is for slaying ghosts and demons along the way. Audre's voice at your back is for pushing you forward.”
― Taisia Kitaiskaia

“This the seasons come and go, and the years pass by. I’ll age one more year, and probably finish another novel. One by one, I’ll face the tasks before me and complete them as best I can. Focusing on each stride forward, but at the same time taking a long-range view, scanning the scenery as far ahead as I can. I am, after all, a long-distance runner.”
― Haruki Murakami, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

“One other way I keep healthy is by taking a nap. I really nap a lot.”
― Haruki Murakami, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

“How I go to the wood

Ordinarily, I go to the woods alone, with not a single
friend, for they are all smilers and talkers and therefore
unsuitable.

I don’t really want to be witnessed talking to the catbirds
or hugging the old black oak tree. I have my way of
praying, as you no doubt have yours.

Besides, when I am alone I can become invisible. I can sit
on the top of a dune as motionless as an uprise of weeds,
until the foxes run by unconcerned. I can hear the almost
unhearable sound of the roses singing.

If you have ever gone to the woods with me, I must love
you very much.”
― Mary Oliver, Swan: Poems and Prose Poems