Jane Ryder

“Two dollar a plate or a gram of gold dust,” he snapped like one of them nasty turtles in swamp lakes, and served two more customers while he was talking. “You take silver?” I held up one of them spoons. The man squinted at it then laughed, all high-pitched and mean. “Get out of here, I not a charity!”
― Beth Lewis, The Wolf Road

“Deep listening, compassionate listening is not listening with the purpose of analyzing or even uncovering what has happened in the past. You listen first of all in order to give the other person relief, a chance to speak out, to feel that someone finally understands him or her. Deep listening is the kind of listening that helps us to keep compassion alive while the other speaks, which may be for half an hour or forty-five minutes. During this time you have in mind only one idea, one desire: to listen in order to give the other person the chance to speak out and suffer less. This is your only purpose. Other things like analyzing, understanding the past, can be a by-product of this work. But first of all listen with compassion. Compassion”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Anger

“Of course they accused Marcão of having done it without provocation—that’s the way of torturers of every age, to put the blame on the victim, especially when he strikes back.”
― Orson Scott Card, Speaker for the Dead

“I wish you more happiness than can fit in a person.”
― Nina LaCour, We Are Okay