Stranger

“Islam, however inadequate, was the only source of ethics and stimulus for political mobilization. And al-Afghani also presciently saw that a totally secular society- the dream of nineteenth-century rationalism- was doomed to remain a fantasy in the West as well as in the Muslim world. As he concluded in his response to Renan:
The masses do not like reason, the teachings of which are understood only by a few select minds. Science, however fine it may be, cannot completely satisfy humanity’s thirst for the ideal, or the desire to soar in dark and distant regions that philosophers and scholars can neither see nor explore.”
― Pankaj Mishra, From the Ruins of Empire: The Revolt Against the West and the Remaking of Asia

“Nothing truly beautiful ever asks for attention. This quote has stuck with me ever since I heard my coworker speak the words. Nothing truly beautiful ever asks for attention –it just naturally exists, as it is, in confidence and boldness.”
― Bianca Sparacino, Seeds Planted in Concrete

“Imagine the places you grew up, the places you studied, places that belonged to your people, burned. But I should stop pretending that I know you. Perhaps you do not have to imagine. Perhaps your library, too, went up in smoke.”
― V.V. Ganeshananthan, Brotherless Night

“Can the hungry go on a hunger strike? Non-violence is a piece of theatre. You need an audience. What can you do when you have no audience?
People have the right to resist annihilation”
― Arundhati Roy