Hëb

“No matter how young we were then, by shouldering the memories of war that seemed heavy as a thousand-year burden, we felt as though we had lived through the most profound years of our lives. Later in life, we would remind ourselves that whatever misfortunes we encountered were nothing compared to those we experienced as soldiers. We were a young generation who became men in the trenches and on the battlefields, and this was what gave our lives meaning. And if we were to find happiness, we would always remember that no amount of happiness could overshadow our time spent together in the war. The war, and our friendship, was what made us who we are.”
― Bảo Ninh, Hanoi at Midnight: Stories

“In the war, I had seen much worse, more horrifying things than this, but what haunted me for the rest of my life was how the Americans, during that month, had destroyed our land with Agent Orange.”
― Bảo Ninh, Hanoi at Midnight: Stories

“Led by Prince Sihanouk, Cambodia, then a French colony, became an independent nation in 1953. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Cambodia prospered and was self-sufficient. However, many people were not happy with Prince Sihanouk’s government. Many regarded the Sihanouk government as corrupt and self-serving, where the poor got poorer and the rich became richer. Various nationalistic factions sprang up to demand reforms. One of the groups, a secret Communist faction—the Khmer Rouge—launched an armed struggle against the Cambodian government.”
― Loung Ung, First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers

“They once said Palestine will be free tomorrow. When is tomorrow? What is freedom? How long does it last?”
― Mosab Abu Toha, Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear: Poems from Gaza