Stacey Kay

“Ours is the only club I’d ever wanted to be a member of, so I couldn’t imagine quitting.”
― David Sedaris, Calypso

“Each person held aloft a single lit candle—the city’s traditional way to express its appreciation for that year’s peace prize winner. It was a magical sight, as if a pool of stars had descended from the sky; and as Michelle and I leaned out to wave, the night air brisk on our cheeks, the crowd cheering wildly, I couldn’t help but think about the daily fighting that continued to consume Iraq and Afghanistan and all the cruelty and suffering and injustice that my administration had barely even begun to deal with. The idea that I, or any one person, could bring order to such chaos seemed laughable; on some level, the crowds below were cheering an illusion. And yet, in the flickering of those candles, I saw something else. I saw an expression of the spirit of millions of people around the world: the U.S. soldier manning a post in Kandahar, the mother in Iran teaching her daughter to read, the Russian pro-democracy activist mustering his courage for an upcoming demonstration—all those who refused to give up on the idea that life could be better, and that whatever the risks and hardships, they had a role to play.

Whatever you do won’t be enough, I heard their voices say.

Try anyway.”
― Barack Obama, A Promised Land

“This is one of the most beautiful parts of being a human—the drive to connect and understand, heal and blossom. This is the kernel that takes my breath away. The piece I want to hold on to.”
― Rebekah Taussig, Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body

“Like an expensive painting or a fragile orchid, I thrive only in extremely specific conditions.”
― John Green, The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet