Laura

“In the ideal, our writing would be a feast, welcoming and enlivening to our readers. Yet we must recognize that a reader is also a kind of host. Readers receive our writing, bringing it into their homes, giving it their time and attention. The challenge of charitable writing, then, isn't simply to be a good host. It is, at the same time, to be a good guest. Our aspiration must not be simply to love others through our writing, as if we are all-sufficient. With all humility, we may earnestly hope that our writing will be an occasion to be loved.”
― Richard Hughes Gibson, Charitable Writing: Cultivating Virtue Through Our Words

“Books won't solve my problems, Harriet."
"No, but they give your problems perspective. They allow your problems to breathe.”
― Monica Wood, How to Read a Book

“To feel pity in a pitiless place is no small thing.”
― Monica Wood, How to Read a Book

“It is not our conscience that torments us over our image; that is our ego tormenting us. Our conscience torments us when we behave in ways that are contrary to our values. When you look in the mirror and cringe as a result of your shame, it is conscience. When you look in the mirror and cringe as a result of how people think of you, it is ego. Which of the two is more prevalent in your life?”
― Laura Bates, Shakespeare Saved My Life: Ten Years in Solitary with the Bard