Brooke Smith

“You don't have favourites among your children, but you do have allies. ”
― Zadie Smith, On Beauty

“Was it the act of giving birth that made you a mother? Did you lose that label when you relinquished your child? If people were measured by their deeds, on the one hand, I had a woman who had chosen to give me up; on the other, I had a woman who'd sat up with me at night when I was sick as a child, who'd cried with me over boyfriends, who'd clapped fiercely at my law school graduation. Which acts made you more of a mother?

Both, I realized. Being a parent wasn't just about bearing a child. It was about bearing witness to its life.”
― Jodi Picoult, Handle with Care

“At heart we are all powerful, beautiful, and capable of changing the world with our bare hands.”
― Dianne Sylvan, The Body Sacred

“Books are a uniquely portable magic.”
― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft