“Maybe banned books are such a problem because when your tokens of diversity are so limited, losing even one is a huge blow. So the solution isn’t saying ‘unban this book!’ The solution is to make more books like it.”

“If you are making a work of art in any area of life, you are not going from a known point A to a known point B. You are inventing point B.”

“Writing, and reading, can be summarized as the act of taking an individual story and extrapolating the universal from it. Action and intrigue draws us in, but it’s the deeper, more human themes that make a story stick with us.”

“Any meaningful life choice involves a degree of sacrifice. So you do what you must. And you give thanks for being disliked, because, honestly, most people in the world won’t care enough to dislike you in the first place.”

“What we do with our bodies manifests and expresses inner states, the sacred ground of our being. But bodily practices can also induce inner states. How we move, how we sit, how we breathe, can all make a difference in our spiritual life.”

“One of my former colleagues is fond of saying, ‘Tenure is the right to be abused in perpetuity.’ My problem was not, however, that I was being abused, but that I was being asked to abuse others.”

“How could we know the facts, the answers, the future? How could we protect each other from the fear? We couldn’t. And what has been left behind, now that the votes are counted, is a country divided and reeling from being torn apart.”

“Some days we will be tempted to tell the world about our mothering, and others will leave us wanting to hide behind an obnoxiously large diaper bag. I would argue that the sweet spot of vulnerability is somewhere in between.”

“I want robots to do my bidding as much as the next guy, but our history with labor-saving robots has been sketchy at best. We’ve been here before and there are lots of predictably bad outcomes from automation.”

“Those predators you’re so worried will sneak into the Target bathroom? They’re all around you.
 
They are your Priest, your kid’s coach, your neighbor, your uncle, your youth group leader, your United States Speaker of the House.”

“We read to prepare for life. It follows, then, that we are raising our boys to dismiss other people’s experiences, and to see their needs and concerns as the center of things. We are raising our boys to lack empathy.”

“For transgender and gender nonconforming people like myself, the question of what to wear to work becomes an exhausting question of identity and of survival.” Jacob Tobia at Neutrois Nonsense, on being trans and “professional.”

“She was the witness to every word I wrote that day as well as every word I’ve written and the many I have failed to write for fourteen years.” — Author Elizabeth Marro on writing and grief after the death of her dog, Chloe.

“Nowstalgia is what I call that split second when I can sense that a memory is being created, and instead of being happy for the calamitous beauty of this moment, I’m already nostalgic for how much I’m going to miss it.”

“Women are not diminished by motherhood. Women are not diminished by forgoing motherhood. Women ARE diminished by inequality and misogyny, and by living in a world that is primarily tailored to the needs of men.”