Don't tell me what they did to you as though you had no choice. Tell me, isn't that your picture? Isn't that your voice.

Vulnerability is something that I negotiate every day.

You can't start with imbalance and end with peace, be that in your own body, in an ecosystem or between a government and its people. What we need to strive for is not perfection, but balance.

How come I can pick my ears but not my nose?

I believe the act of giving birth to be the single most miraculous thing a human being can do and it is surely the moment when a lot of women finally understand the depth of their power. You think it can’t possibly be done, you think you can’t possibly take the pain, and then you do-—and afterward you look at yourself in a whole new way. If you can do that, you can do anything.

fate is not just whose cooking smells good, but which way the wind blows

If you’re not angry, then you’re just stupid, you don’t care. How else can you react when something’s so unfair?