Barbara Ehrenreich Quotes

Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering.

Does anybody know what I'm doing up here?

If people can be educated to see the lowly side of their own natures, it may be hoped that they will also learn to understand and to love their fellow men better. A little less hypocrisy and a little more tolerance towards oneself can only have good results in respect for our neighbor; for we are all too prone to transfer to our fellows the injustice and violence we inflict upon our own natures.

Sometimes you find the panel, but it doesn’t open; sometimes it opens, and your gaze meets nothing but a mouse skeleton. But at least you’ve looked. That’s the real distinction between people: not between those who have secrets and those who don’t, but between those who want to know everything and those who don’t. This search is a sign of love I maintain.

When you see a good person, think of becoming like her/him. When you see someone not so good, reflect on your own weak points.

I believe that telling our stories, first to ourselves and then to one another and the world, is a revolutionary act. It is an act that can be met with hostility, exclusion, and violence. It can also lead to love, understanding, transcendence, and community. I hope that my being real with you will help empower you to step into who you are and encourage you to share yourself with those around you.

CONTEMPLATE THE workings of this world, listen to the words of the wise, and take all that is good as your own. With this as your base, open your own door to truth. Do not overlook the truth that is right before you.

Commit a little bit more to the world outside of your own life. Get people talking.

It is better to have a Church that is wounded but out in the streets than a Church that is sick because it is closed in on itself.

The news is challenging right now. One hard thing about it is that often things don't lend themselves to good explanations or we don't have enough information. So we are sometimes in pretty murky waters, as everyone is. But it's an era where people's anxiety about what's going on and need to understand what's happening around them has created a real demand for news coverage that's dedicated to filling that need.

I treat everybody the same. You know I love to be with people: the youngsters.

It's not as if I knew answers which I am going to set down in the form of a novel or a memoir or a sermon. It's, rather, I'm going to search myself for what I might have to say in this area.

Love is the perception of individuals. Love is the extremely difficult realisation that something other than oneself is real.

The great book, always open and which we should make an effort to read, is that of Nature.

And when you're needing your space to do some navigating...I' ll be here patiently waiting to see what you find

My aim is to understand love. I know how alive I felt when I was in love, and I know that everything I have now, however interesting it might seem, doesn't really excited me.

I might kiss you. I might be bad at it. That's not possible.

Muhammad, my friend, I'm getting very scared. Teach me how to love my brothers who don't know the law, and what about the deal on the flying trapeze?

There are many sorts of love. And when you love a man who is less than you dreamed, you have to make allowances for the difference between a real man and a dream. Sometimes you have to forgive him. Perhaps you even have to forgive him often. But forgiveness often comes with love.

How could I be so immature to think you could replace the missing elements in me. How extremely lazy of me.

Persons are not known by intellect alone, not by principles alone, but only by love. It is when we love the other, the enemy, that we obtain from God the key to an understanding of who he is, and who we are. It is only this realization that can open to us the real nature of our duty, and of right action.

When you sit quietly and look inside, things that seem so difficult on the outside become a lot easier to digest. Concerns that might've caused a lot of anxiety just come and go.

Never ask, "Who is my real friend?" Ask, "Am I a real friend to somebody?" That is the right question. Always be concerned with yourself.

Please read my diary, look through my things and figure me out.

[Poetry is] a way of coming to grips with reality . . . a way of discovery and definition. It is a way of solving for the unknowns.