Richard Derus

“To follow politics these days is to court bewilderment, denial, complete despair. Too often I feel I am living in a country I no longer recognize, a country determined to imperil every principle I hold dear and many of the people I love, too. Immersing myself in the natural world of my own backyard—or the nearby parks and greenways, or the woods surrounding our friends’ cabin on the Cumberland Plateau—is the way I cope with whatever I think I cannot bear. I’m not trying to hide from the truth but to balance it, to remind myself that there are other truths, too. I need to remember that the earth, fragile as it is, remains heartbreakingly beautiful. I need to give my attention to a realm that is indifferent to fretful human mutterings and naked human anger, a world unaware of the hatred and distrust taking over the news.”
― Margaret Renkl, The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year

“And the tense little smile that lingered on my face seemed to fire his eyes with a wild gleam, like you see in dogs before they attack. Until that moment, I'd never been hit before.”
― Patrícia Melo, The Simple Art of Killing a Woman

“It doesn't matter where you are or what social class you belong to and it doesn't matter what you do for a living. It's dangerous being a woman.”
― Patrícia Melo, The Simple Art of Killing a Woman

“You never imagine that a guy like this, a Wittgenstein reader and yoga fan, will hit you in the face at a lawyers’ New Year’s Eve party. But the statistics show that it happens a lot. And that lots of men don’t stop at a slap. They’d actually rather kill you.”
― Patrícia Melo, The Simple Art of Killing a Woman