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“teacher within is not the voice of conscience but of identity and integrity. It speaks not of what ought to be but of what is real for us, of what is true. It says things like, “This is what fits you and this is what doesn’t”; “This is who you are and this is who you are not”; “This is what gives you life and this is what kills your spirit—or makes you wish you were dead.”
― The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher's Life
― The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher's Life
“I hate small talk with a passionate hatred. Why? I suppose because any meeting with another human being is collision for me now.”
― Journal of a Solitude
― Journal of a Solitude
“If we are to understand the human condition, and if we are to accept ourselves in all the complexity, self-doubt, extravagance of feeling, guilt, joy, the slow freeing of the self to its full capacity for action and creation, both as human being and as artist, we have to know all we can about each other, and we have to be willing to go naked.”
―
―
“There were moments when Hilary saw life as tending always towards chaos, when it seemed that all one could be asked was just to keep the ashtrays clean, the bed made, the wastebaskets emptied, as if one never got to the real things because of the constant exhausting battle to keep ordinary life from falling apart.”
― Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing
― Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing
“When I'm asked for the 'elevator speech' that sums up my work, I always respond, 'I always take the stairs, so I don't have an elevator speech. If you'd like to walk with me awhile, I'd love to talk.' I don't know of a life worth living or work worth doing that can be reduced to a sound bite." (40)”
― On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity, and Getting Old
― On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity, and Getting Old
Laurie’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Laurie’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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