Emily Deen

“I want them to see that in the universal human desire to be happy, to develop our gifts, to contribute to others, to love and be loved—we’re all the same.”
― Melinda Gates, The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World

“So, yes, there is a Church teaching against contraceptives—but there is another Church teaching, which is love of neighbor. When a woman who wants her children to thrive asks me for contraceptives, her plea puts these two Church teachings into conflict, and my conscience tells me to support the woman’s desire to keep her children alive. To me, that aligns with Christ’s teaching to love my neighbor.”
― Melinda Gates, The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World

“Trying to help others while keeping them at a safe distance cannot truly help them or heal us. We have to open up to others. We have to give up the need to be separate and superior. Then we can help. Working on ourselves while working for others is the inner and outer work—where the effort to change the world and the effort to change ourselves come together.”
― Melinda Gates, The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World

“And if you can’t bear the pain of your neighbor’s suffering, then in one way or another, you’re going to push that person to the margins. Every society says its outsiders are the problem. But the outsiders are not the problem; the urge to create outsiders is the problem. Overcoming that urge is our greatest challenge and our greatest promise. It will take courage and insight, because the people we push to the margins are the ones who trigger in us the feelings we’re afraid of.”
― Melinda Gates, The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World