The Open Space of Democracy Quotes

“We have made the mistake of confusing democracy with capitalism and have mistaken political engagement with a political machinery we all understand to be corrupt. It is time to resist the simplistic, utilitarian view that what is good for business is good for humanity in all its complex web of relationships. A spiritual democracy is inspired by our own sense of what we can accomplish together, honoring an integrated society where the social, intellectual, physical, and economic well-being of all is considered, not just the wealth and health of the corporate few.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, The Open Space of Democracy

“We are bathed in light, endless light, sometimes volatile, ever changing. We watch weather as one watches fire.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, The Open Space of Democracy

“This is what I have learned in these short weeks in the refuge:
You cannot afford to make careless mistakes, like meditating in the presence of wolves, or topping your boots in the river, or losing a glove, or not securing your tent down properly. Death is a daily occurrence in the wild, not noticed, not respected, not mourned. In the Arctic, I've learned that ego is as useless as money.
Choose one's travel companions well. Physical strength and prudence are necessary. Imagination and ingenuity are our finest traits.
Expect anything.
You can change your mind like the weather.
Patience is more powerful than anger. Humor is attractive than fear.
Pay attention. Listen. We are most alive when we are discovering.
Humility is the capacity to see.
We are meant to live simply.
We are meant to live joyfully.
Life continues with and without us.
Beauty is another word for God.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, The Open Space of Democracy

“This is what our community is in need of now. Fire. Fire that wakes us up. Fire that transforms where we are. Fire to see our way through the dark. Fire as illumination.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, The Open Space of Democracy

“I do not believe we can look for leadership beyond ourselves. I do not believe we can wait for someone or something to save us from our global predicaments and obligations. I need to look in the mirror and ask this of myself: If I am committed to seeing the direction of our country change, how must I change myself?”
― Terry Tempest Williams, The Open Space of Democracy

“To not be engaged in the democratic process, to sit back and let others do the work for us, is to fall prey to bitterness and cynicism. It is the passivity of cynicism that has broken the back of our collective outrage. We succumb to our own depression believing there is nothing we can do.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, The Open Space of Democracy

“In the open space of democracy, we engage the qualities of inquiry, intuition, and love as we become a dynamic citizenry, unafraid to exercise our shared knowledge and power. We can dissent. We can vote. We can step forward in times of terror with a confounding calm that will shatter fear and complacency.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, The Open Space of Democracy

“Our future is guaranteed only by the degree of our personal involvement and commitment to an inclusive justice.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, The Open Space of Democracy

“Democracy depends on engagement, a firsthand accounting of what one sees, what one feels, and what one thinks, followed by the artful practice of expressing the truth of our times through our own talents, gifts, and vocations.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, The Open Space of Democracy

“The only space I see truly capable of being closed is not the land or our civil liberties but our own hearts.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, The Open Space of Democracy

“In our increasingly fundamentalist country, we have to remember what is fundamental: gravity - what draws us to a place and keeps us there, like love, like kinship. When we commit to a particular place, a certain element of choice is removed. We are free to dig in, and allow ourselves to be mentored by the life around us. We begin to see the world whole instead of fractured. Long-term strategies replace short-term gains. Routine opens the door to creativity. We inform one another and become educated public that responds.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, The Open Space of Democracy

“Social change takes time. Communities are built on the practice of patience and imagination - the belief that we are here for the duration and will take care of our relations in times of both drought and abundance. These are the blood and flesh gestures of commitment.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, The Open Space of Democracy

“We trust - and trust is imperative - that we can create an economically viable and ecologically sustainable plan for the town, the land, and its creatures, alongside the interests of [a developer].”
― Terry Tempest Williams, The Open Space of Democracy

“We are all having to move beyond what is comfortable. Patience is stretched. Personalities get in the way. Egos provide points of obstruction. It is never easy. We are learning to listen. We are learning to forgive. We are learning to go forward, believing what binds us together as a community is stronger than individual bickering points. And we are having a great time.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, The Open Space of Democracy

“In my private moments of despair, I am aware of the limits of my own imagination... imaginations shared invite collaboration and collaboration creates community. A life in association, not a life independent, is the democratic ideal. We participate in the vitality of the struggle.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, The Open Space of Democracy

“A crisis woke us up. A shared love of place opened a dialogue with neighbors. We asked for help. We found partners. We used our collective intelligence to formulate a plan. And then we had to search within ourselves to find what each of us had to give.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, The Open Space of Democracy

“It is through the process of defining what we want as a town that we are becoming a real community. It is through the act of participation that we change.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, The Open Space of Democracy

“The Arctic is a landscape where migrating birds create blizzards with feathers, where polar bears walk on water, and where white owls circle solitary men, reminding them of their limitations.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, The Open Space of Democracy

“When one hungers for light it is only because one's knowledge of the dark is so deep.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, The Open Space of Democracy

“What will we make of the life before us? How do we translate the gifts of solitary beauty into the action required for true participatory citizenship?”
― Terry Tempest Williams, The Open Space of Democracy

“In the open space of democracy, beauty is not optional, but essential to our survival as a species.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, The Open Space of Democracy

“The land speaks to us through gestures. What we share as human beings is so much more than what separates us.
If we listen to the land, we will know what to do.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, The Open Space of Democracy

“Experience opens us, creates a chasm in our heart, an expansion in our lungs, allowing us to pull in fresh air to all that was stagnant. We breathe deeply and remember fear for what it is - a resistance to the unknown.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, The Open Space of Democracy

“I keep turning around to feel the embrace of these sweeping valley. First thoughts: Never have I felt so safe. No development. No distractions. Nothing to break my heart. I was not prepared for this uninterrupted peace.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, The Open Space of Democracy