Until We Can Receive

“Until we can receive with an open heart,

we are never really giving with an open heart.”

~ Brene Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection

To Gaze Into Another Person's Face

“To gaze into another person's face is to do two things: 

to recognize their humanity 

and to assert your own.”

~ Lawrence Hill, Someone Knows My Name

Never Judge

“Never judge someone by their relatives.”

~ Charles Martin, Chasing Fireflies

Bathsheba Loved Troy

“Bathsheba loved Troy in the way that only self-reliant women love 

when they abandon their self-reliance. 

When a strong woman recklessly throws away her strength 

she is worse than a weak woman who has never any strength to throw away. 

One source of her inadequacy is the novelty of the occasion. 

She has never had practice in making the best of such a condition. 

Weakness is doubly weak by being new.”

~ Thomas Hardy, Far From the Madding Crowd