Quotes from When Women Were Birds: Fifty-Four Variations on Voice

“For far too long we have been seduced into walking a path that did not lead us to ourselves. For far too long we have said yes when we wanted to say no. And for far too long we have said no when we desperately wanted to say yes. . . .

When we don't listen to our intuition, we abandon our souls. And we abandon our souls because we are afraid if we don't, others will abandon us.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, quote from When Women Were Birds: Fifty-Four Variations on Voice

“Once upon a time, when women were birds, there was the simple understanding that to sing at dawn and to sing at dusk was to heal the world through joy. The birds still remember what we have forgotten, that the world is meant to be celebrated.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, quote from When Women Were Birds: Fifty-Four Variations on Voice

“Word by word, the language of women so often begins with a whisper.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, quote from When Women Were Birds: Fifty-Four Variations on Voice

“A shadow is never created in darkness. It is born of light. We can be blind to it and blinded by it. Our shadow asks us to look at what we don’t want to see”
― Terry Tempest Williams, quote from When Women Were Birds: Fifty-Four Variations on Voice

“When one woman doesn't speak, other women get hurt.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, quote from When Women Were Birds: Fifty-Four Variations on Voice

“Who wants to be a goddess when we can be human? Perfection is a flaw disguised as control.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, quote from When Women Were Birds: Fifty-Four Variations on Voice

“When I look in the mirror, I see a woman with secrets. When we don’t listen to our intuition, we abandon our souls. And we abandon our souls because we are afraid if we don’t, others will abandon us.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, quote from When Women Were Birds: Fifty-Four Variations on Voice

“Choosing with integrity means finding ways to speak up that honor your reality, the reality of others, and your willingness to meet in the center of that large field. It’s hard sometimes.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, quote from When Women Were Birds: Fifty-Four Variations on Voice

“WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES when we go against our instincts? What are the consequences of not speaking out? What are the consequences of guilt, shame, and doubt?”
― Terry Tempest Williams, quote from When Women Were Birds: Fifty-Four Variations on Voice

“To write requires an ego, a belief that what you say matters. Writing also requires an aching curiosity leading you to discover, uncover, what is gnawing at your bones.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, quote from When Women Were Birds: Fifty-Four Variations on Voice

“These handwritten words in the pages of my journal confirm that from an early age I have experienced each encounter in my life twice: once in the world, and once again on the page.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, quote from When Women Were Birds: Fifty-Four Variations on Voice

“The moment Eve bit into the apple, her eyes opened and she became free. She exposed the truth of what every woman knows: to find our sovereign voice often requires a betrayal.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, quote from When Women Were Birds: Fifty-Four Variations on Voice

“There are two important days in a woman's life: the day she is born and the day she finds out why.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, quote from When Women Were Birds: Fifty-Four Variations on Voice

“Women piece together their lives from the scraps left over for them.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, quote from When Women Were Birds: Fifty-Four Variations on Voice

“My voice is born repeatedly in the fields of uncertainty.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, quote from When Women Were Birds: Fifty-Four Variations on Voice

“When silence is a choice, it is an unnerving presence. When silence is imposed, it is censorship.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, quote from When Women Were Birds: Fifty-Four Variations on Voice

“A shadow is never created in darkness. It is born of light. We can be blind to it and blinded by it. Our shadow asks us to look at what we don't want to see. If we refuse to face our shadow, it will project itself on someone else so we have no choice but to engage.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, quote from When Women Were Birds: Fifty-Four Variations on Voice

“If so, then it was also here where I came to know I can survive what hurts. I believed in my capacity to stand back up and run into the waves again and again, no matter the risk.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, quote from When Women Were Birds: Fifty-Four Variations on Voice

“We mask our needs as the needs of others.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, quote from When Women Were Birds: Fifty-Four Variations on Voice

“I take a deep breath and sidestep my fear and begin speaking from the place where beauty and bravery meet--within the chambers of a quivering heart.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, quote from When Women Were Birds: Fifty-Four Variations on Voice

“Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, quote from When Women Were Birds: Fifty-Four Variations on Voice

“I want to feel both the beauty and the pain of the age we are living in. I want to survive my life without becoming numb. I want to speak and comprehend word of wounding without having these words becomg the landscape where I dwell. I want to possess a light touch that can elevate darkness to the realm of stars.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, quote from When Women Were Birds: Fifty-Four Variations on Voice

“Not everything is meant for all to hear.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, quote from When Women Were Birds: Fifty-Four Variations on Voice

“I wonder what would happen if you gave up your need to be right?”
― Terry Tempest Williams, quote from When Women Were Birds: Fifty-Four Variations on Voice

“The sin we commit against each other as women is lack of support. We hurt. We hurt each other. We hide. We project. We become mute or duplicitous, and we fester like boiling water until one day we erupt like a geyser. Do we forget we unravel in grief?”
― Terry Tempest Williams, quote from When Women Were Birds: Fifty-Four Variations on Voice

“Most of all, differences of opinion are opportunities for learning.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, quote from When Women Were Birds: Fifty-Four Variations on Voice

“the unexpected action of deep listening can create a space of transformation capable of shattering complacency and despair.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, quote from When Women Were Birds: Fifty-Four Variations on Voice

“To write,” Marguerite Duras remarked, “is also not to speak. It is to keep silent. It is to howl noiselessly.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, quote from When Women Were Birds: Fifty-Four Variations on Voice

“Now, in a shift of light, the shadows of birds are more pronounced on the gallery’s white wall. The shadow of each bird is speaking to me. Each shadow doubles the velocity, ferocity of forms. The shadow, my shadow now merges with theirs. Descension. Ascension. The velocity of wings creates the whisper to awaken….
I want to feel both the beauty and the pain of the age we are living in. I want to survive my life without becoming numb. I want to speak and comprehend words of wounding without having these words become the landscape where I dwell. I want to possess a light touch that can elevate darkness to the realm of stars.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, quote from When Women Were Birds: Fifty-Four Variations on Voice

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“Am mai văzut fotografii de-ale ei de cînd era doar o adolescentă. Toate mi s-au părut cu neputinţă de suportat, ca şi cînd ai vrea să ţii mîna pe un fier înroşit. Nici nu ştia că exişti cînd şi le-a făcut, iar faptul că ai pierdut momente atît de preţioase din viaţa ei că a risipit atîta emoţie pentru altcineva decît pentru tine, chiar dacă pentru nimeni, este de neînţeles, de
netrăit.”
― Mircea Cărtărescu, quote from Nostalgia

“I would die without you,” he finally said. “I’d be crazy with terror if there were six of you to defend.

Not to mention crazy, period.” There was a vein of amusement in the final sentence.

She took his hand and moved it to her abdomen. “Did I ever tell you, Dash, how much I dream of babies? Lots of babies. I wanted at least three, more if I could. And if what you say is true about your semen counteracting birth control, do you think you might not have plenty of little girls to protect and go crazy over? What will you do then? Stop having sex with me?”

She saw the pure terror that glittered in his eyes for just a second. Raw, blistering hot fear as his fingers flexed against her abdomen.

“God help me,” he groaned. “You will make me crazy, Elizabeth.”
― Lora Leigh, quote from Elizabeth's Wolf

“When I transformed my random and raw words into sentences, sentences into paragraphs, and paragraphs into chapters, a semblance of order and sanity appeared where there had been only chaos and insanity.”
― David Sheff, quote from Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction

“As Jack began to climb the stairs, Fiona looked up at her new home. Five stories of stately mansion
rose above her head. Heavy molding around the large windows and doors bespoke a quality and
craftsmanship that was obvious even in the dim night. “Good God! It’s massive!”
Jack paused with his foot on the last step. “I do wish you’d keep those comments until we are in bed,
love. I would appreciate them all the more there.”
― Karen Hawkins, quote from How to Abduct a Highland Lord

“What it means to be human is to bring up your children in safety, educate them, keep them healthy, teach them how to care for themselves and others, allow them to develop in their own way among adults who are sane and responsibile, who know the value of the world and not its economic potential. It means art, it means time, it means all the invisibles never counted by the GDP and the census figures. It means knowing that life has an inside as well as an outside. And I think it means love.”
― Jeanette Winterson, quote from The Stone Gods

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BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

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