CT

“Arleen’s children did not always have a home. They did not always have food. Arleen was not always able to offer them stability; stability cost too much. She was not always able to protect them from dangerous streets; those streets were her streets. Arleen sacrificed for her boys, fed them as best she could, clothed them with what she had. But when they wanted more than she could give, she had ways, some subtle, others not, of telling them they didn’t deserve it.”
― Matthew Desmond, Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City

“He looked up at the empty clouds, and as he died he wondered, not for the first time but for the very last, why it should be that we are made for a bright world, but live in a dark one.”
― Lev Grossman, The Bright Sword

“I've raised my voice at a human only twice in my entire life. Both times at the same human. Put differently: I've known only one human in my entire life. Put differently: I've allowed only one human to know me.”
― Jonathan Safran Foer, Here I Am

“This for me is the defining argument for diversity: Diversity is the best way to defend equality. If people from diverse groups are not making decisions, the burdens and benefits of society will be divided unequally and unfairly—with the people writing the rules ensuring themselves a greater share of the benefits and a lesser share of the burdens of any society. If you’re not brought in, you get sold out. Your life will be worth twenty shekels. No group should have to trust another to protect their interests; all should be able to speak for themselves. That’s why we have to include everyone in the decisions that shape our cultures because even the best of us are blinded by our own interests. If you care about equality, you have to embrace diversity....”
― Melinda French Gates, The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World