quoted...

I am so bummed with myself...I had totally intended to steal Lu's awesome habit of capturing at least one quote from each book she read, but alas, already with my first book of the year, I failed. Didn't think to write down a single thing from Saffy's Angel, and this is a real shame as I would love to have some of the words from that book captured here in my personal little journal. But it's not too late for book two of the year, A People's History of American Empire. It was a wonderful book, but a very depressing one. Save for the last page. I love Howard Zinn's words:

To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. If we remember those times and places, and there are so many where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act. Hope is the energy for change. The future is an infinite succession of presents...and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of the worst of everything around us, is a marvelous victory.