He was my father. I own half his genes, and all of his history. Believe this: the mistakes are part of the story. I am born of a man who believed he could tell nothing but the truth, while he set down for all time the Poisonwood Bible. Barbara Kingsolver More Quotes by Barbara Kingsolver More Quotes From Barbara Kingsolver Hope is a renewable option: Barbara Kingsolver dreamrunninginspiring In my own worst seasons I've come back from the colorless world of despair by forcing myself to look hard, for a long time, at a single glorious thing: a flame of red geranium outside my bedroom window. And then another: my daughter in a yellow dress. And another: the perfect outline of a full, dark sphere behind the crescent moon. Until I learned to be in love with my life again. Like a stroke victim retraining new parts of the brain to grasp lost skills, I have taught myself joy, over and over again(15). Barbara Kingsolver daughterdarklife Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. Barbara Kingsolver creativitywritingpeople Maybe life doesn't get any better than this, or any worse, and what we get is just what we're willing to find: small wonders, where they grow. Barbara Kingsolver willinggrowswonder Every one of us is called upon, perhaps many times, to start a new life. A frightening diagnosis, a marriage, a move, loss of a job...And onward full-tilt we go, pitched and wrecked and absurdly resolute, driven in spite of everything to make good on a new shore. To be hopeful, to embrace one possibility after another--that is surely the basic instinct...Crying out: High tide! Time to move out into the glorious debris. Time to take this life for what it is. Barbara Kingsolver lossjobsmoving Thanks for this day, for all birds safe in their nests, for whatever this is, for life. Barbara Kingsolver nestssafebird One of the very first things I figured out about life...is that it's better to be a hopeful person than a cynical, grumpy one, because you have to live in the same world either way, and if you're hopeful, you have more fun. Barbara Kingsolver hopefulfunpositive The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof. Barbara Kingsolver life-lessonhopedream In a world as wrong as this one, all we can do is make things as right as we can. Barbara Kingsolver can-dolifeworld The most important thing about a person is always the thing you don't know. Barbara Kingsolver importantpersonsknows Human manners are wildly inconsistent; plenty of people have said so. But this one takes the cake: the manner in which we're allowed to steal from future generations, while commanding them not to do that to us, and rolling our eyes at anyone who is tediously PC enough to point that out. The conspicious consumption of limited resources has yet to be accepted widely as a spirtual error, or even bad manners. Barbara Kingsolver cakeerrorseye Honk if you love Jesus, text while driving if you want to meet up. Barbara Kingsolver drivingwantjesus Recall that whatever lofty things you might accomplish today, you will do them only because you first ate something that grew out of the dirt. Barbara Kingsolver dirtmighttoday Patriotism threatens free speech with death. It is infuriated by thoughtful hesitation, constructive criticism of our leaders and pleas for peace. It despises people of foreign birth. It has specifically blamed homosexuals, feminists and the American Civil Liberties Union. In other words, the American flag stands for intimidation, censorship, violence, bigotry, sexism, homophobia and shoving the Constitution through a paper shredder. Whom are we calling terrorists here? Barbara Kingsolver thoughtfulfeministpeople A miscarriage is a natural and common event. All told, probably more women have lost a child from this world than haven't. Most don't mention it, and they go on from day to day as if it hadn't happened, so people imagine a woman in this situation never really knew or loved what she had. But ask her sometime: how old would your child be now? And she'll know. Barbara Kingsolver miscarriagelovechildren You don't think you'll live past it and you don't really. The person you were is gone. But the half of you that's still alive wakes up one day and takes over again. Barbara Kingsolver griefpastthinking Good fiction creates empathy. A novel takes you somewhere and asks you to look through the eyes of another person, to live another life. Barbara Kingsolver empathyeyelooks That was when we smelled the rain. It was so strong it seemed like more than just a smell. When we stretched out our hands we could practically feel it rising up from the ground. I don’t know how a person could ever describe that scent. Barbara Kingsolver strongrainhands Your dreams, what you hope for and all that, it's not separate from your life. It grows right up out of it. Barbara Kingsolver your-dreamsgrowsdream I'm of a fearsome mind to throw my arms around every living librarian who crosses my path, on behalf of the souls they never knew they saved. Barbara Kingsolver librarysoulmind
