Beth Swanson

“People look at you peculiar if you talk about the feeling you got for animals, saying animals have no souls, no sense of good or bad, no value up next to humans,” he said. “I don’t know about that. Sometimes I think animals are the ones who should be saying such things about us.” He shook his head. “Animals can tear your heart out. They can maim you. They can kill you dead on instinct alone and saunter into the next minute like it was nothing. But at least you know the ground rules with animals. You can count the cost of breaking the rules. You never know with people. Even the good can hurt you bad, and the bad, well, they’re going to hurt you but good.” He dropped his arm from the window to rub his gnarled hand. “It’s why I keep choosing animals. Even if it kills me. One day, it probably will.”
― Lynda Rutledge, West with Giraffes

“Gather as much knowledge as you can, because information is power. And choosing how to use it is freedom. The more you know, the freer you will be.”
― Kirsten Miller, Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books

“I never trusted a soul who didn’t like animals.”
― Lynda Rutledge, West with Giraffes

“Folks be funny lak dat. Dey takes the lies dey want and throws away the truths dat scares ’em.”
― Percival Everett, James