#transform

We ate the birds. We ate them. We wanted their songs to flow up through our throats and burst out of our mouths, and so we ate them. We wanted their feathers to bud from our flesh. We wanted their wings, we wanted to fly as they did, soar freely among the treetops and the clouds, and so we ate them. We speared them, we clubbed them, we tangled their feet in glue, we netted them, we spitted them, we threw them onto hot coals, and all for love, because we loved them. We wanted to be one with them. We wanted to hatch out of clean, smooth, beautiful eggs, as they did, back when we were young and agile and innocent of cause and effect, we did not want the mess of being born, and so we crammed the birds into our gullets, feathers and all, but it was no use, we couldn’t sing, not effortlessly as they do, we can’t fly, not without smoke and metal, and as for the eggs we don’t stand a chance. We’re mired in gravity, we’re earthbound. We’re ankle-deep in blood, and all because we ate the birds, we ate them a long time ago, when we still had the power to say no. ↗

— Margaret Atwood

#dreams #flying #metamorphoses #transformations #wish

This is a perverse thing, personally, but I would rather be in the cycle where people are underestimating us. It gives us latitude to go out and make big bets that excite and amaze people. ↗

— Mark Zuckerberg

#built #connected #everyone #focus #future

Man, alone, has the power to transform his thoughts into physical reality; man, alone, can dream and make his dreams come true. ↗

— Napoleon Hill

#come #dream #dreams #his #into

I don't think you can ever completely transform yourself on film, but if you do your job well, you can make people believe that you're the character you're trying to be. ↗

— Frances McDormand

#character #completely #ever #film #i

I came to Christ when I was thirty-eight. That transformed my life. ↗

— Jennifer O'Neill

#christ #i #i came #life #my life

An idea is a point of departure and no more. As soon as you elaborate it, it becomes transformed by thought. ↗

— Pablo Picasso

#departure #elaborate #idea #more #point

The process of my transformation came to a head with my discovery of St. Francis of Assisi during a pilgrimage I went on with a scout troop from my school. ↗

— Abbe Pierre

#discovery #during #francis #head #i

I was 12 in '55 when rock and roll hit. It just completely transformed me. ↗

— Robert Quine

#hit #i #just #me #rock

My personal assessment is that Dr. King is the greatest American we have ever produced. I can argue for Lincoln, I can argue for FDR, but for my money, King is the greatest American we have ever produced. His only weapon was love. He transforms a nation, transforms the world with one weapon and that of course being again the weapon of love. So that for me, King is the quintessential example of everything that I could ever want to be in my lifetime. ↗

— Tavis Smiley

#american #argue #assessment #being #could

Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and the war on terrorism have reduced the pace of military transformation and have revealed our lack of preparation for defensive and stability operations. This Administration has overextended our military. ↗

— Barack Obama

#afghanistan #defensive #iraq #lack #military