donna backshall

“We don't know how to communicate meaningfully with chimpanzees. Assessing the effort we invest in trying to get big brained mammals to do what we say, we tend to measure their intelligence by an ability to understand us, rather than measure our intelligence by an ability to understand them. Since we can't meaningfully communicate with any other species on earth, not even those genetically closest to us, how audacious of us to think we can converse at all with intelligent alien life upon first meeting them?”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson, Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization

“If humans can do the worst acts, we can also do the best.”
― Danica Davidson, I Will Protect You: A True Story of Twins Who Survived Auschwitz

“The truth is, we live. We can't spend every moment treasuring the things we love. We still get mad at the dog for tracking mud through the house, even though one day we would give anything to have her muddy paws back on our white carpet. We still roll our eyes at our parents' needy voicemails, even though one day those recorded moments will be all we have left.”
― Paige Harbison, The Other Side of Now

“Love is not about saying this is where I belong. It's about being completely, hopelessly, profoundly unable to belong anywhere else.”
― James Goodhand, The Day Tripper