Alice

“Fiction is the great lie that tells the truth about how the world lives!”
― Abraham Verghese, The Covenant of Water

“When you believe niceness disproves the presence of racism, it’s easy to start believing bigotry is rare, and that the label racist should be applied only to mean-spirited, intentional acts of discrimination. The problem with this framework—besides being a gross misunderstanding of how racism operates in systems and structures enabled by nice people—is that it obligates me to be nice in return, rather than truthful. I am expected to come closer to the racists. Be nicer to them. Coddle them.”
― Austin Channing Brown, I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness

“In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”
― Abraham Verghese, The Covenant of Water

“I have been bent and broken but I hope into better shape.”
― Abraham Verghese, The Covenant of Water