kelly

“It was the anonymity. He wanted to be unknown, unpossessed by others' knowledge of him. That was freedom.”
― Ling Ma, Severance

“But who cared about pain when fresh brought so much joy.”
― Ibram X. Kendi, How to Be an Antiracist

“Now, on the other hand, he continued, let’s think about the zombie narrative. It’s not about a specific villain. One zombie can be easily killed, but a hundred zombies is another issue. Only amassed do they really pose a threat. This narrative, then, is not about any individual entity, per se, but about an abstract force the force of the mob, of mob mentality. Perhaps it’s better known these days as the hive mind. You can’t see it. You can't forecast it. It strikes at any time, whenever wherever, like a natural disaster, a hurricane, an earthquake.”
― Ling Ma, Severance

“Teach her about difference. Make difference ordinary. Make difference normal. Teach her not to attach value to difference. And the reason for this is not to be fair or to be nice but merely to be human and practical. Because difference is the reality of our world. And by teaching her about difference, you are equipping her to survive in a diverse world.
She must know and understand that people walk different paths in the world and that as long as those paths do no harm to others, they are valid paths that she must respect. Teach her that we do not know – we cannot know – everything about life. Both religion and science have spaces for the things we do not know, and it is enough to make peace with that.
Teach her never to universalise her own standards or experiences. Teach her that her standards are for her alone, and not for other people.
This is the only necessary form of humility: the realisation that difference is normal.”
― Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions