‘Courage is the greatest of all virtues, because if you haven’t courage, you may not have an opportunity to use any of the others.’
“The most effective way to show compassion to another is to listen, rather than talk.”
― No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering
― No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering
“It's easy to be judgmental about crime when you live in a world wealthy enough to be removed from it. But the hood taught me that everyone has different notions of right and wrong, different definitions of what constitutes crime, and what level of crime they're willing to participate in. If a crackhead comes through and he's got a crate of Corn Flakes boxes he's stolen out of the back of a supermarket, the poor mom isn't thinking, 'I'm aiding and abetting a criminal by buying these Corn Flakes.' No. She's thinking, 'My family needs food and this guy has Corn Flakes', and she buys the Corn Flakes.”
― Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood
― Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood
“Don't fight the system, mock the system”
― Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood
― Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood
“Here you are! In the sacred present. I can’t heal you—or anyone—but I can celebrate your choice to dismantle the prison in your mind, brick by brick. You can’t change what happened, you can’t change what you did or what was done to you. But you can choose how you live now. My precious, you can choose to be free.”
― The Choice
― The Choice
“Love is a creative act. When you love someone you create a new world for them. My mother did that for me, and with the progress I made and the things I learned, I came back and created a new world and a new understanding for her.”
― Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood
― Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood
Ruxandra’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Ruxandra’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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