Emily

“The Torah talks about the Sabbath in different ways. We're told in Exodus to remember, zachor, and keep it holy. In Devarim, it says to observe, shamor, and keep it holy. Zachor speaks to the positive, the bread, wine, prayer, and song, everything we celebrate, eat and drink, and rejoice in. Shamor speaks to the negative - that which is prohibited, the work and play we set aside, the pleasures from which we abstain. This isn't to say these things are good or bad, Hannah. It does not refer to right or wrong. More like inhale and exhale. That which we choose to keep and that which we choose to let go - both are holy.”
― Jan Eliasberg, Hannah's War

“My whole lift, I've been an outsider. But many have been out there with me. We found that trees could communicate, over the air and through their roots. We found that trees take care of each other. Outsiders discovered that trees sense the presence of other nearby life. That a tree learns to save water. That trees feed their young and synchronize their masts and bank resources and warn kin and send out signals to wasps to come and save them from attacks. A forest knows things. They wire themselves up underground. There are brains down there, ones our own brains aren't shaped to see. Link enough trees together, and a forest grows aware.”
― Richard Powers, The Overstory

“If you’re holding a sapling in your hand when the Messiah arrives, first plant the sapling and then go out and greet the Messiah.”
― Richard Powers, The Overstory

“A time of war is a time of amplified connection and disconnection. Our allegiance to everything we love takes on a dangerous primacy, while our fear of everything we hate dons the sheep's clothing of righteousness.”
― Jan Eliasberg, Hannah's War