A Calamity of Souls Quotes

“A great nation can never realize its full potential until all its citizens are allowed to realize theirs. And the rest of the world is not waiting for us to get our house in order. They are moving forward in ways that are best for them, not for us. By battling each other we’re literally fighting with one arm tied behind our back, and for no good reason at all.”
― David Baldacci, A Calamity of Souls

“There are only imperfect human beings who work through the difficult challenges associated with living.”
― David Baldacci, A Calamity of Souls

“All that time, money, and resources spent on keeping this country divided. If we had just honestly confronted our history, and spent far less than a tenth of that time, money, and resources on bringing us together, do you know what kind of country we would have right now?”
― David Baldacci, A Calamity of Souls

“To borrow a line from Mark Twain, that is truly the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”
― David Baldacci, A Calamity of Souls

“There are no fallen Catholics, Miss DuBose. There are only imperfect human beings who work through the difficult challenges associated with living. Sometimes they fall, but then they rise again. As did the son of God. For our eternal salvation.”
― David Baldacci, A Calamity of Souls

“I pray for the day when this country moves forward together, as one mighty nation, and one united people. It wasn’t that long ago that Senator Joe McCarthy sought to tear this country apart, pitting one American against another with his slanderous accusations and pieces of paper with nothing on them. Divided is when we are at our weakest, our most vulnerable. We are called the United States of America for a reason, because when we are truly united, there is nothing on earth that can defeat us, including whatever bogeyman someone puts up to turn one American against another. Dr. King may no longer be with us, but he loved the possibility of this country. And his spirit and his message of hope, his cry for equality, will forever be part of us.”
― David Baldacci, A Calamity of Souls

“When one has faith, of any kind, the odds of good things happening become short rather than long. And even if we hadn’t met today, I believe we would have achieved the same results elsewhere.”
― David Baldacci, A Calamity of Souls

“the lack of empathy?” she said. “Brings out the very worst in us. It just simply makes us angry, all the time, and looking for other people to hate for no good reason.”
― David Baldacci, A Calamity of Souls

“You see, protest makes change occur, but attitudes are slow to come along for the ride. But real change transforms attitudes. And with that you have sustained change.”
― David Baldacci, A Calamity of Souls

“Real change is built on one person at a time doing something different. Something they might have been scared to do before. Like a white lawyer who’d never thought of defending a Black man in court. Then another person and another person comes along and does something different”
― David Baldacci, A Calamity of Souls

“whites may be even more emotionally and spiritually damaged by their racist beliefs and terrible actions than the Blacks are by those very same beliefs and actions.” He noted the scar by her eye. “How awful it must be to think you have the right to harm another person… for no reason. I can only imagine that attacker’s soul is… empty.”
― David Baldacci, A Calamity of Souls

“We’ve been through so much together, and we all actually agree on a lot of fundamental principles. Yet I never hear anyone talk about that. Just about what we don’t agree on. What divides us, not what unites us.” He paused and composed himself because he could feel his heart racing and his voice rising, and he didn’t want that, not now. He looked at Sally Reeves in the crowd, her son next to her.”
― David Baldacci, A Calamity of Souls

“Since Blacks weren’t really allowed to purchase homes, nice cars were really the only way to show affluence and accomplishment. And the automobiles they typically purchased were large because often whole families had to sleep in them. And the powerful engines were critical, to outrun whites intent on doing them harm, including the police.”
― David Baldacci, A Calamity of Souls

“This had all happened with alarming swiftness, but then bad things very often did, while positive change took considerably longer.”
― David Baldacci, A Calamity of Souls

“Some philosophers favored an omnipotent monarchy free from all accountability. Slavery flourished in such a world. Whereas Jefferson and the other Founding Fathers chose the will of the people and the freedom to pursue life, liberty, and happiness as their ideal governing model.”
― David Baldacci, A Calamity of Souls

“At that time, the most powerful nations were organized under autocratic systems, usually monarchies, and “individual freedom” was an oxymoron. Although there are other legitimate claimants to the title, the United States of America is arguably the world’s oldest nation with a continuously surviving democratic government; it is certainly the best-known example. However, having only been around for less than 250 years, we are an infant in the annals of history, and our existence has been, at times, uncomfortably”
― David Baldacci, A Calamity of Souls

“The war I’m talking about is being fought right here, and it could end what has been a spirited if flawed experiment in self-governance.”
― David Baldacci, A Calamity of Souls

“You see, protest makes change occur, but attitudes are slow to come along for the ride.”
― David Baldacci, A Calamity of Souls

“His father gaped. “How many colored men named Jerome you reckon they got in a cell for killin’ two white people in Madison Heights last Friday? If it’s more’n one I’ll give up my damn smokes.”
― David Baldacci, A Calamity of Souls

“A wise woman once told me that if you let the bully win he never goes away.”
― David Baldacci, A Calamity of Souls

“You don’t have to marry one or have a meal with them to respect the fact that they’re people, too.”
― David Baldacci, A Calamity of Souls

“dawned”
― David Baldacci, A Calamity of Souls

“I taught you and your brother that lesson when you were boys. And now I’m telling you, as a man, that you are not walking away from this. You go on and do your job. You and her,” she added, drilling another stare at DuBose. “And you punch those people right in the damn face and you show them they don’t control one thing about you, son. Not one goddamn thing.”
― David Baldacci, A Calamity of Souls

“Law is blind if you colored, honey. It don’t see us, no how, no way.”
― David Baldacci, A Calamity of Souls

“Because God endowed us with the best minds on earth. I would imagine he expected us to do something positive with them.”
― David Baldacci, A Calamity of Souls

“Father, you should know that I’m a fallen Catholic.” “There are no fallen Catholics, Miss DuBose. There are only imperfect human beings who work through the difficult challenges associated with living. Sometimes they fall, but then they rise again. As did the son of God. For our eternal salvation.”
― David Baldacci, A Calamity of Souls

“One would have thought a civil war would have laid to rest the indefensible, but somehow it didn’t.” “On the contrary—the war was fought and won. The lack of political will to carry on the ideals that men and women gave their blood and lives for? That was the failure.”
― David Baldacci, A Calamity of Souls

“She sat on the floor next to Queenie, stroking her head, and the dog promptly fell asleep with her muzzle on DuBose’s lap. Twenty minutes later DuBose slowly disengaged her, and Queenie rolled over and continued her slumber. She said, “It’s amazing what a simple act of kindness can inspire. Humans should try it more often.” “That ‘unconditional love’ thing is pretty damn powerful,” noted Jack.”
― David Baldacci, A Calamity of Souls

“People with money and power in this country have pitted white and Black workers against each other for centuries. That exploitation has made a very few very rich, with everyone else barely keeping their heads above water.”
― David Baldacci, A Calamity of Souls

“Racism is a virus passed from the old to the young.”
― David Baldacci, A Calamity of Souls