You & Yours Quotes

“We walked where the ancient pier juts into the sea.
Stood on the rim of the pool, by the circle
of black boulders. No one saw we were there
and everyone who had ever been there
stood silently in air.

Where else do we ever have to go, and why?”
― Naomi Shihab Nye, You & Yours

“From "Why I could not accept your invitation"

Forgive me. Culture is everything
right now. But I cannot pretend
a scrap of investment in the language
that allows human beings to kill one another
systematically, abstractly, distantly.
The language wrapped around 37,000,
or whatever the number is today,
dead and beautiful bodies thrown into holes
without any tiny, reasonable goodbye.”
― Naomi Shihab Nye, You & Yours

“During a war

Best wishes to you & yours,
he closes the letter.

For a moment I can’t
fold it up again—
where does “yours” end?
Dark eyes pleading what could we have done
differently?
Your family,
your community,
circle of earth, we did not want,
we tried to stop,
we were not heard
by dark eyes who are dying
now. How easily they
would have welcomed us in
for coffee, serving it
in a simple room
with a radiant rug.
Your friends and mine.”
― Naomi Shihab Nye, You & Yours

“Freedom will feel good to you too. Please acknowledge our higher purpose.”
― Naomi Shihab Nye, You and Yours

“the years we never thought would stick to us have stuck now we are as old as people in the stories”
― Naomi Shihab Nye, You and Yours

“so many things frowned upon in the early days that shaped us”
― Naomi Shihab Nye, You and Yours

“Last year we thought this year would be better and this year last year looks pretty good.”
― Naomi Shihab Nye, You and Yours

“I realized that I travel too much on the day I began tidying an airport as if it were my bedroom.”
― Naomi Shihab Nye, You and Yours

“Procrastination is the most creative act there is.”
― Naomi Shihab Nye, You and Yours

“It’s dangerous talking for Jesus. You get carried away almost immediately.”
― Naomi Shihab Nye, You and Yours

“We can work on inner peace and world peace at the same time.”
― Naomi Shihab Nye, You and Yours

“One day soon it will stumble up the walk and knock, knock hard, and you will have to answer the door.”
― Naomi Shihab Nye, You and Yours

“Remind us again, brave friend. What countries may we sing into? What lines should we all be crossing?”
― Naomi Shihab Nye, You and Yours

“He Said EYE-RACK

Relative to our plans for your country,
we will blast your tree, crush your cart,
stun your grocery.
Amen sisters and brothers,
give us your sesame legs,
your satchels, your skies.
Freedom will feel good
to you too. Please acknowledge
our higher purpose. Now, we did not see
your bed of parsley. On St. Patrick's Day
2003, President Bush wore a blue tie. Blinking hard
he said, "reckless aggression."
He said, "the danger is clear."
Your patio was not visible in his frame.
Your comforter stuffed with wool
from a sheep you knew. He said, "We are
against the lawless men who
rule your country, not you." Tell that
to the mother, the sister, the bride,
the proud boy, the peanut-seller,
the librarian careful with her shelves.
The teacher, the spinner, the sweeper,
the invisible village, the thousands of people
with laundry and bread, the ants tunneling
through the dirt.”
― Naomi Shihab Nye, You & Yours

“Please describe how you became a writer.

Possibly I began writing as a refuge from our insulting first grade textbook. Come, Jane, come. Look, Dick, look. Were there ever duller people in the world? You had to tell them to look at things? Whey weren’t they looking to begin with?”
― Naomi Shihab Nye, You & Yours