#over

Democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns in to universal, rather than religion-specific, values... it requires that their proposals be subject to argument and amenable to reason. Now I may be opposed to abortion for religious reasons, to take one example, but if I seek to pass a law banning the practice, I cannot simply point to the teachings of my church or evoke God's will. I have to explain why abortion violates some principle that is accessible to people of all faiths, including those with no faith at all. ↗

— Barack Obama

#democracy #government #religion #faith

To be able to see into a friends' dream is a dream in itself. -Doctor Kōsaku Tokita (Paprika) ↗

— Yasutaka Tsutsui

#dreams #friend #lover #saotome #science

Often we come home from a sharing session with a feeling that something precious has been taken away from us or that holy ground has been trodden upon. ↗

— Henri J.M. Nouwen

#sharing #small-groups #introvert

All this talking, this rather liquid confessing, was something I didn't think I could ever bring myself to do. It seemed foolhardy to me, like an uncooked egg deciding to to come out of its shell: there would be a risk of spreading out too far, turning into a formless puddle. ↗

— Margaret Atwood

#introverts #introvert

I just have a hard time with small talk. My friend Jocelyn says I'm too quiet. But I'm really not quiet. I just tend to come across that way to new people because I don't like to talk first. What if the other person doesn't want to be bothered? ↗

— Lauren Barnholdt

#people #personality #introvert

... all this talking, this rather liquid confessing, was something I didn't think I could ever bring myself to do. It seemed foolhardy to me, like an uncooked egg deciding to to come out of its shell: there would be a risk of spreading out too far, turning into a formless puddle. ↗

— Margaret Atwood

#introverts #talking #introvert

Finland is a famously introverted nation. Finish joke: "How can you tell if a Finn likes you? He's staring at your shoes instead of his own. ↗

— Susan Cain

#introvert

Try this for deviancy: fabricants are mirrors held up to purebloods' conscience; what purebloods see reflected there sickens them. So they blame you for holding the mirror." I hid my shock by asking when purebloods might blame themselves. Mephi replied, "History suggests, not until they are made to. ↗

— David Mitchell

#cloud-atlas #disgust #hate #history #postmodern

The more kindness and justice are challenged, the more we must embrace them. Only when you are challenged - and only when you challenge yourself - do you discover what truly matters. ↗

— David Levithan

#self-discovery

I believe one has to escape oneself to discover oneself. ↗

— Rabih Alameddine

#escape #searching #self-discovery #self-discovery