Joan Gallagher

“In springtime when I lived at the White House, we used to plant what’s called a “three sisters” vegetable patch in our garden on the South Lawn, mixing a crop of corn, beans, and squash together in one place. This is a traditional Native American method for growing food in a resourceful way, one that’s been used for many hundreds of years and is based on the idea that each type of plant has something vital to offer the others: The corn grows tall and creates a natural pole for the bean plants to climb. The beans provide nitrogen, a nutrient that helps the other plants grow more efficiently, and the squash stays low to the ground, its large, spreading leaves helping to block weeds and keep the soil moist. The plants grow at different rates; the vegetables harvest at different times. But the mix provides a system of mutual protection and benefit—the tall and the small continually working together. It’s not just the corn, and not just the beans, but rather the corn and the beans and the squash combined that yield a healthy crop. The balance comes from the combination. I’ve started to think about both my life and our wider human community in these terms. We are here to share benefits and protection. Our balance rests upon this ideal, the richness of these combinations. If I begin to feel out of sync, if I’m feeling unsupported or overwhelmed, I try to take stock of what my garden holds, what I’ve planted and what I still need to mix in: What’s feeding my soil? What’s helping to block the weeds? Am I cultivating both the small and the tall?”
― Michelle Obama, The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times

“The four principal ways of being excellent at being human are traditionally called the “cardinal” virtues: wisdom (sophia), self-restraint (sōphrosunē), courage (andreia), and justice (dikē).”
― Spencer Klavan, How to Save the West: Ancient Wisdom for 5 Modern Crises

“Someone very wise told me that we keep the people we love in our hearts. We never lose them as long as we can remember”
― Amy Harmon, What the Wind Knows