Rachel Durning

“Those who had come of age in the camps, like Muna and Monday, who had seen so many of their peers resettled abroad, lacked respect for the present: as though one's actions in the here and now had no relation to the great hereafter, abroad. Life was only a process of waiting. And this was their problem too: in such circumstances, people are more inclined to act without consequences, without limits, to be caught by a hedonism of the senses or the indulgence of emotion, or the violent righteousness of religion. Nothing had any permanence, there was no building anything, since both the people you loved or the people you hurt could soon be gone. The older refugees with a grounding in school or community had a better chance. But still, in such a situation, life can lose its meaning.”
― Ben Rawlence, City of Thorns: Nine Lives in the World's Largest Refugee Camp

“How he longed for those New England waters--cold, clean, without crocodiles.”
― Pitchaya Sudbanthad, Bangkok Wakes to Rain

“Normal people began to see that a beard was not synonymous with honesty. It was simply a patchy place to hide one's lies.”
― Bassem Youssef, Revolution for Dummies: Laughing through the Arab Spring

“The cool rum felt like air-conditioning for his brain.”
― Ben Fountain, Devil Makes Three