Dana

“..I met two young guys from the Oregon National Guard... The lieutenant told me about their temporary barracks in an old neighborhood high school. He told me that he was disgusted that kids ever went to school there, and that in Oregon the place would have been bulldozed and rebuilt so that kids could have a proper place to learn. He seemed troubled that all of this was happening in America. He realized that many of the problems he was seeing in New Orleans existed before the storm, and he wanted to know why people had put up with it and why they hadn't voted out of office the people who had let this happen. I told him I didn't know, but maybe we could change things in New Orleans in the future. He seemed hopeful. I felt less certain.”
― Billy Sothern, Down in New Orleans: Reflections from a Drowned City

“These people fail to realize that it is on the inside that God must be defended, not on the outside. They should direct their anger at themselves. For evil in the open is but evil from within that has been let out. The main battlefield for good is not the open ground of the public arena but the small clearing of each heart.”
― Yann Martel, Life of Pi

“The best attitude to take toward back talk is to reach out and embrace it with love, compassion, and understanding. No need to criticize it for its shortcomings or to waste time in recriminations. Just give a loving nod and a hug to any back talk you get, and move on to the joyful creation of your fulfilled life. ”
― Gay Hendricks, Five Wishes: How Answering One Simple Question Can Make Your Dreams Come True

“If people are troubled by their view, they ought to offer these New Orleanians, and black and poor people in the places like the Lower Ninth Ward around the country, a reason to believe otherwise.”
― Billy Sothern, Down in New Orleans: Reflections from a Drowned City