Yavien

“Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armour yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.”
― George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

“This was the era of young men with “potential,” especially in California, but potential to do what? For whom? As Yoneda’s example shows, potential meant more than courage, intelligence, and a winning smile—he had all three, and they earned him grief from authorities on two shores. It’s worth retracing our steps to the Palo Alto System, in which potential counts for everything—but only a specific kind of potential. A colt that won’t pull a cart is no good to the system, no matter how fast. And a colt that organizes all the horses to strike? That’s no potential at all.”
― Malcolm Harris, Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World

“Asking for help with shame says:
You have the power over me.
Asking with condescension says:
I have the power over you.
But asking for help with gratitude says:
We have the power to help each other.”
― Amanda Palmer, The Art of Asking; or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help