I lost a child," she said, meeting Lusa's eyes directly. "I thought I wouldn't live through it. But you do. You learn to love the place somebody leaves behind for you.

Growing food was the first activity that gave us enough prosperity to stay in one place, form complex social groups, tell our stories, and build our cities.

Listen. To live is to be marked. To live is to change, to acquire the words of a story, and that is the only celebration we mortals really know. In perfect stillness, frankly, I've only found sorrow.

The changes we dread most may contain our salvation.

To think is not always to see.

Culture is a slingshot moved by the force of its past

There is a strange moment in time, after something horrible happens, when you know it's true, but you haven't told anyone yet.