Sharman Apt Russell > Quotes

“In the second century A.D. the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius may have best defined pantheism when he wrote, “Everything is interwoven, and the web is holy.”
― Sharman Apt Russell

“I feel the need to fall in love with the world, to forge that relationship ever more strongly. But maybe I don’t have to work so hard. I have thought nature indifferent to humans, to one more human, but maybe the reverse is true. Maybe the world is already in love, giving us these gifts all the time—the glimpse of a fox, tracks in the sand, a breeze, a flower--calling out all the time: take this. And this. And this. Don’t turn away.”
― Sharman Apt Russell, Diary of a Citizen Scientist: Chasing Tiger Beetles and Other New Ways of Engaging the World

“In famine, a focus on women and children highlights biology: here is a mother who cannot feed her child, a breakdown in the natural order of life. This focus obscures who and what is to blame for the famine, politically and economically, and can lead to the belief that a biological response, more food, will solve the problem.”
― Sharman Apt Russell, Hunger: An Unnatural History

“I will help--but only so much, only so far. It is not that I believe these children are less than my own. It is not that I believe I do not have a responsibility for them. It is just that in a world of haves and have-nots, I do not want to give up too much of what I have. I do not want to diminish the complexity and diversity of my life. Instead, I will choose to spend another seventy-five dollars on myself rather than send another child to school, and I will choose to do this over and over again. I no longer think of myself as a good person. I have adjusted to that.”
― Sharman Apt Russell, Hunger: An Unnatural History

“The women in the kitchen sang: Sarampión toca la puerta. Viruela dice: ¿Quién es? Y Escarlatina contesta: ¡Aquí estamos los tres! The cook would sometimes shout a little madly, “Sing it again!” And the women would sing again: Measles knocks at the door. Smallpox asks, Who’s there? And Scarlet Fever replies: All three of us are here!”
― Sharman Apt Russell, Teresa of the New World

“In 1320, in Avignon, France, the Church had proceedings against the larvae of cockchafers, or melolonthine scarabs, which were damaging food crops. Before the trial, priests visited the area to summon the larvae to appear before the Bishop on pain of excommunication, advising the grubs of their right to counsel. Meanwhile, an advocate was designated whose defense of his clients—when they failed to appear—was that as creatures of God they had a right to eat. Moreover, their absence at the trial was due to their not being guaranteed safe passage. The judges disagreed and resolved that the larvae not only had to quit ravaging crops but leave the farming area entirely. Larvae who failed to comply would be killed. (In another medieval trial, offending larvae were excommunicated first.)”
― Sharman Apt Russell, Diary of a Citizen Scientist: Chasing Tiger Beetles and Other New Ways of Engaging the World

“Now she could smell what the jaguar could smell, odors deeper and richer than anything she had experienced before, layers of smell she could read like Fray Tomás had read the words in her father’s book: the wet decay of leaves, the death fear of a mouse, the poisonous cloy of datura, water and mud and insects, the wind carrying the smell of other animals, the wind itself, and the girl, of course, always the girl with her juicy flesh. The girl smelled incredibly good. Should the jaguar do this? Should Teresa eat herself?”
― Sharman Apt Russell, Teresa of the New World

“In every moment of the day, in the middle of any day, I can become newly engaged with the world. Newly competent. There's so much to discover! I can still become something I am not.”
― Sharman Apt Russell, Diary of a Citizen Scientist: Chasing Tiger Beetles and Other New Ways of Engaging the World

“Cabeza de Vaca had wrapped her in his arms and in his language, whispering about a life she did not understand although understanding seemed to form just beyond the sea and sand, waiting there for her to grow older. Even when the story confused her, she had caught words or phrases, ideas like fish, bold and surprising, tasting of her father’s mind. She had learned quickly to nod and speak because he needed her to do this, because his need surrounded her like the blue sky. She was his bastard, and he had loved her. Yes, he had loved her. That was the memory she couldn’t bear.”
― Sharman Apt Russell, Teresa of the New World

“Hunger cannot be ignored. Hunger signals you to take what you need. Hunger makes you reach out your hand. Your brain, your stomach, your cells hunger. They break down matter and transform it into something else, the gestalt of your life. You cannot live without hunger. You cannot live with hunger. Hunger begins your exchange with the world.”
― Sharman Apt Russell, Hunger: An Unnatural History

“Hunger can strengthen the weak, inspire the timid, bully the powerful. The voice of hunger can free the oppressed and right injustice. It can alter history.”
― Sharman Apt Russell, Hunger: An Unnatural History