“Life is short and the world

is at least half terrible, and for every kind

stranger, there is one who would break you,”

– Maggie Smith, Good Bones

“Freedom is not given to us by anyone; we have to cultivate it ourselves. It is a daily practice… No one can prevent you from being aware of each step you take or each breath in and breath out.”

– Thich Nhat Hanh

“Look closely at the present you are constructing: it should look like the future you are dreaming.”

– Alice Walker

“To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.”

– Howard Zinn

“It is our stories that will recreate us, when we are torn, hurt, even destroyed. It is the storyteller, the dream-maker, the myth-maker, that is our phoenix, that represents us at our best, and at our most creative.”

– Doris Lessing

“Possibility is not a luxury; it is as crucial as bread.” – Judith Butler

“There is a myth that the purpose of education is to give one the means for upward mobility and success. The plain truth is that the planet does not need more successful people.“

– David W. Orr

“Recognizing that sustainable development, democracy and peace are indivisible is an idea whose time has come… Today we are faced with a challenge that calls for a shift in our thinking.”

– Wangari Maathai

“It’s not about what it is, it’s about what it can become.”

– Dr. Seuss

“I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house.”

– Nathaniel Hawthorne

“Chance favors the connected mind.”

– Steven Johnson

“So many institutions in our society need reinventing. The time has come for a new dream. That’s what being a revolutionary is.”

– Grace Lee Bogs

“It is so important that we fight for the future, get into the game, get dirty, get experimental. How do we create and proliferate a compelling vision of economies and ecologies?”

– adrienne maree brown

“There is too much bad news to justify complacency. There is too much good news to justify despair.”

– Donella Meadows

“The biggest gift you can give is to be absolutely present, and when you’re worrying about whether you’re hopeful or hopeless or pessimistic or optimistic, who cares? ”

– Joanna Macy

“When things are shaky and nothing is working, we might realize that we are on the verge of something. We might realize that this is a very vulnerable and tender place, and that tenderness can go either way.”

– Pema Chödrön

“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in.”

– Isaac Asimov

“A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

-Margaret Mead