Grant B

“The meaning of life is to live it, as wholly as we can, as abundantly as we can, as bravely as we can, here and now, sharing the experience with others, caring for others as we care for ourselves, and accepting our responsibility for leaving the world better than we found it. James Hemming”
― Andrew Copson, The Little Book of Humanism: Universal lessons on finding purpose, meaning and joy

“The future is dark,” I said. “But what if—what if this darkness is not the darkness of the tomb but the darkness of the womb?”
― Valarie Kaur, See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love

“When we make the world a better place, the world makes us better people.”
― Michael Kenny, THE MONEY MENTALITY: PERSONAL FINANCE FOR TEENS: REAL-WORLD LESSONS ON FINANCIAL LITERACY, BUDGETING, INVESTING, AND SIDE HUSTLING

“I am staring out of the window in an extremely dark mood, feeling helpless. Then a friend, a fellow artist, calls... he asks, ‘How are you?' and instead of ‘Oh, fine... and you?', I blurt out the truth: ‘Not well. Not only am I depressed, I can’t seem to work, to write; it’s as though I am paralyzed, unable to write anything... I’ve never felt this way before…' I am about to explain with further detail when he interrupts, shouting: ‘No! No, no, no! This is precisely the time when artists go to work... not when everything is fine, but in times of dread. That’s our job.' I felt foolish the rest of the morning, especially when I recalled the artists who had done their work in gulags, prison cells, hospital beds; who did their work while hounded, exiled, reviled, pilloried. And those who were executed... this is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”
― Toni Morrison