“Caring about someone as much as you care about yourself, and the critical eye that comes with it, are two strands that cannot be separated. Both engender a passion that makes the mother-daughter relationship perilous—and precious.”
“To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never to forget.”
“Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone; it has to be made, like bread, remade all the time, made new.”
“War is not women’s history.”
“Politicians have a responsibility not to inflame division or misrepresent the facts, and to show leadership to counter views that would demonise asylum seekers or abrogate Australia’s international obligations…The facts are that Australia’s current refugee intake of about 13,750 a year is small by international standards and forms less than 10% of our total permanent migration intake. Boat arrivals deemed to be refugees make up an even smaller proportion of that – less than 2% of all migrants to Australia.”
“The foundations of a person are not in matter but in spirit.”
“Real courage is when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.”
“Laughter is good for thinking because when people laugh, it is easier for them to admit new ideas to their minds.”
“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person. Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.”
“Real women don’t have flushes, they have power surges.”
