Thoughts & Things

Seven Favourite Quotes

I think most people who do a lot of reading and writing tend to have a set of favourite quotes that inspire them in life, or simply ones that they relate to or connect with. I wanted to take a few moments to share some of my favourite quotes with you. I have a great many favourites, but I will keep this limited so as not to make this a quote dumping zone that no one will enjoy. Perhaps I will share further favourite quotes in a future blog post. For now, I will leave you with this limited amount. I will add a brief explanation with each to explain why it ranks among my favourites.

"I must fight with all my strength so that the little positive things that my health allows me to do might be pointed toward helping the revolution. The only real reason for living." - Frida Khalo
Frida Khalo said many intelligent and insightful things during her lifetime, but this is the one that I truly connected with the most. As a person who has many health problems but believes in many causes worth fighting for, this quote holds a special place for me. When I first read it, I couldn't believe someone had put words to something I had often felt.

"My schedule for today lists a six-hour self-accusatory depression." - Philip K Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
When I read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? this quote jumped off the page at me. Of course, the character speaks of an actual schedule, and a depression that she has chosen to place there because it's what feels right to her. It can often feel as if depression has compelled you to set aside time to simply be depressed, and it can be a difficult thing to set aside. It was amazing to me how this was captured given that it was talking about a world in which you can choose your moods.

"History is a novel that has been lived, a novel is history that could have been." - Edmond de Goncourt
I saw this quote placed at the front of a book. I can't remember which one, but the quote stuck with me. This is a feeling that I had all through my childhood. My love for history was compelled by the feeling that history was often like a novel, particularly a fantasy story. I also always had that childhood wonder that made me feel as if many novels could have been reality. This quote connects me back to that childhood feeling.

"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which." - George Orwell, Animal Farm
George Orwell is easy to quote, and Animal Farm is perhaps one of his most quotable works, despite its short length. This quote can be applied to so many areas of the world, and of politics in particular. This particular quote seems to remain forever relevant, which is why it is so important to remember. We must always fight turning into the things we hate.

“Simply put, feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression. This was a definition of feminism I offered in Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center more than 10 years ago. It was my hope at the time that it would become a common definition everyone would use. I liked this definition because it did not imply that men were the enemy. By naming sexism as the problem it went directly to the heart of the matter. Practically, it is a definition which implies that all sexist thinking and action is the problem, whether those who perpetuate it are female or male, child or adult. It is also broad enough to include an understanding of systemic institutionalized sexism. As a definition it is open-ended. To understand feminism it implies one has to necessarily understand sexism.” -bell hooks, Feminism is for Everybody: Passionate Politics
In reading Feminism is for Everybody, this is one of those quotes that I read and fell in love with. It seems to offer up the perfect definition of feminism, and it seems to sum up many of my own beliefs that I had previously struggled to put words to. I think it perfectly offers a counter to people who believe feminism is irrelevant; sexism is still overtly prevalent, after all.

“If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.” - JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
JK Rowling has made many profound statements throughout the Harry Potter series (and within the context of speaking for and from herself as well), but none have stuck with me the way this one has. It is easily applied to life and the world, and acts as a reminder to treat everyone equally.

“If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.” - Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood
I actually haven't read Norwegian Wood (the only Murakami I have read is Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage), although I have been meaning to read it for some time. I found this quote online and it simply leapt out at me. As a huge proponent of reading in a broad variety, this quote stuck with me. To have many ideas, you need to be exposed to many other ideas.

(I have committed to blogging daily with Give It 100. This is Day Eleven.)