#birth

You know you're getting old when you get that one candle on the cake. It's like, 'See if you can blow this out.' ↗

— Jerry Seinfeld

#blow #cake #candle #get #getting

The fate of nations is intimately bound up with their powers of reproduction. All nations and all empires first felt decadence gnawing at them when their birth rate fell off. ↗

— Benito Mussolini

#birth #bound #decadence #empires #fate

Are you sure you weren't adopted?" "Mom would like to think so, but it was a natural birth, so her memory's real clear. ↗

— Jana Deleon

#humor #humor

When anesthesia was developed, it was for many decades routinely withheld from women giving birth, since women were "supposed" to suffer. One of the few societies to take a contrary view was the Huichol tribe in Mexico. The Huichol believed that the pain of childbirth should be shared, so the mother would hold on to a string tied to her husband's testicles. With each painful contraction, she would give the string a yank so that the man could share the burden. Surely if such a mechanism were more widespread, injuries in childbirth would garner more attention. ↗

— Nicholas D. Kristof

#empathy #women #women-s-rights #oppression

The pressure of adversity is the most powerful sustainer of accountability. It's as though everything you do is multiplied by 50 in order to surpass those with a head-start. I was never capable of slacking when at the threshold of failure. ↗

— Criss Jami

#adversity #compel #drive #endure #failure

I’m sorry I can’t do more. But happy birthday, Sadie.” He leaned forward and kissed me on the lips. ↗

— Rick Riordan

#birthday #cute #kiss #lips #love

I could not get my fill of looking. There should be a song for women to sing at this moment or a prayer to recite. But perhaps there is none because there are no words strong enough to name that moment. ↗

— Anita Diamant

#love #motherhood #love

A very small degree of hope is sufficient to cause the birth of love. ↗

— Stendhal

#birth #cause #degree #hope #small

The human race is all the same when it comes to romantic relations,' said the Major. 'A startling absence of impulse control combined with complete myopia. ↗

— Helen Simonson

#humor #love #romance #humor

O Earth, lie heavily upon her eyes; Seal her sweet eyes weary of watching Earth; Lie close around her; leave no room for mirth With its harsh laughter, nor for sound of sighs. She hath no questions, she hath no replies. ↗

— Jeffrey Eugenides

#christianity #death #earth #funeral #poem