Sadness is more or less like a head cold - with patience, it passes. Depression is like cancer.
Barbara KingsolverRead
The arc of history is longer than human vision. It bends. We abolished slavery, we granted universal suffrage. We have done hard things before. And every time it took a terrible fight between people who could not imagine changing the rules, and those who said, 'We already did. We have made the world new.' The hardest part will be to convince yourself of the possibilities, and hang on.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Progress often requires difficult struggles and the belief in new possibilities.
This quote illustrates the idea that historical progress is often a lengthy and challenging process that exceeds the limited perspective of our current vision. It emphasizes the transformative achievements of humanity, such as the abolition of slavery and the granting of universal suffrage, which coincided with fierce conflicts between traditionalists and progressives. The key message highlights the necessity of fostering a mindset open to change and the importance of perseverance in the face of skepticism regarding what can be achieved.
Themes
ChangeHistoryProgressBeliefPossibility
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about social justice movements, you might use this quote to inspire activists.
More from Barbara Kingsolver
All quotes →Children can be your heartache. But that doesn't matter, you have to go on and have them . . . it works out.
Barbara KingsolverRead
I'm of a fearsome mind to throw my arms around every living librarian who crosses my path, on behalf of the souls they never knew they saved.
Barbara KingsolverRead
I did it to win love, and to prove myself capable. Not to move mountains. In my opinions, mountains don't move. They only look changed when you look down on them from great height.
Barbara KingsolverRead
Memory is a complicated thing, a relative to truth, but not its twin.
Barbara KingsolverRead
Empathy is really the opposite of spiritual meanness. It's the capacity to understand that every war is both won and lost. And that someone else's pain is as meaningful as your own.
Barbara KingsolverRead
Similar quotes
What I am very, very moved and struck by is that so many people in the world are often living a life that they hadn't planned for themselves. And they wake up one day and say, 'Hang on. Who am I? Is this really me? Is this what I really wanted?' And also, 'Can I change it? Have I got the courage to change it?'
Kate WinsletRead
The world "out there" won't change until the world "in here" does.
Deepak ChopraRead
If you would one day renovate yourself, do so from day to day.
ConfuciusRead
These places I've seen have clubbed my mind - they are so poor and depressing. I don't know what we can do to help these people, but we've got to do something.
Norman BorlaugRead
As iron cast into fire loses its rust and becomes glowing white, so he who turns completely to God is stripped of his sluggishness and changed into a new man.
Thomas A KempisRead
It will come with a rush and a roar and a shudder. It will come howling and laughing and shrieking and moaning. It will come so fast you can’t help yourself you will stretch out your arms to embrace it. You will feel it before it comes and you will tense yourself for acceptance and the earth which is your eternal bed will tremble at the moment of your union.
Dalton TrumboRead