Every story is a story about death. But perhaps, if we are lucky, our story about death is also a story about love.
Helen HumphreysRead
Memory is a barricade against forgetting; light is a bulwark against darkness; life is a flex against the stillness of the grave. Maybe that's what I'm trying to do here, clear a space in all the debris, through all the anxieties and worries, where I can just exist, easily and simply, entire, for as long as I have left.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the importance of memory and existence amidst life's challenges.
In this quote, Helen Humphreys explores the role of memory and light as protective forces against the inevitable hardships of life and death. She articulates a desire to create a space in her life that is free from anxiety and worry, allowing her to simply exist and appreciate the moments she has left. It emphasizes the struggle against the burdens of life and the quest for peace and clarity in the midst of chaos.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of mental health, one could quote this to highlight the need for clarity and peace of mind.
Every story is a story about death. But perhaps, if we are lucky, our story about death is also a story about love.
Maybe reading was just a way to make her feel less alone, to keep her company. When you read something you are stopped, the moment is stayed, you can sometimes be there more fully than you can in your real life.
I penetrate the hearts of good kids and criminals
We should distinguish at this point between "government" and "state" ... A government is the consensual organization by which we adjudicate disputes, defend our rights, and provide for certain common needs ... A state on the other hand, is a coercive organization asserting or enjoying a monopoly over the use of physical force in some geographic area and exercising power over its subjects.
When I confront a human being as my Thou and speak the basic word I-Thou to him, then he is no thing among things nor does he consist of things. He is no longer He or She, a dot in the world grid of space and time, nor a condition to be experienced and described, a loose bundle of named qualities. Neighborless and seamless, he is Thou and fills the firmament. Not as if there were nothing but he; but everything else lives in his light.
The state controlling a woman would mean denying her full autonomy and full equality.
A junky runs on junk time. When the junk is cut off, the clock runs down and stops. All he can do is hang on and wait for non-junky time to start. A sick junky has no escape from external time, no place to go. He can only wait.
We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off.
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