Jay Knioum

“Kitay’s Sinegard was full of wonders, completely accessible, and crammed with things that belonged to him. Kitay’s Sinegard wasn’t terrifying, because Kitay had money. If he tripped, half the shop owners on the street would help him up, hoping for a handsome tip. If his pocket were cut, he’d go home and get another purse. Kitay could afford to be victimized by the city because he had room to fail.”
― R.F. Kuang, The Poppy War

“By the end of 2014, UNHCR would record close to 60 million forcibly displaced people, 8 million more than in the previous year. Half of those were children. Every day that year, on average, 42,500 people became refugees, asylum seekers, or internally displaced, a fourfold increase in just four years.”
― Melissa Fleming, A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea: One Refugee's Incredible Story of Love, Loss, and Survival

“When man begins to think that he is responsible for writing the script of the world, he forgets the forces that dream up our reality.”
― R.F. Kuang, The Poppy War

“See, that’s what I don’t get. The Iyo let others settle in Iyun Bel, but it’s still their land. How do you declare a province on top of it?” Tiernan shrugged. “With fundamental disregard for others’ rights, I suppose. The political situation is . . . tense.” “I’d be tense if someone moved into my yard and expected me to obey their dumb laws.”
― Jae Waller, Flight