People's dreams are made out of what they do all day. The same way a dog that runs after rabbits will dream of rabbits. It's what you do that makes your soul, not the other way around. Barbara Kingsolver on dreams
I think the most interesting parts of human experience might be the sparks that come from that sort of chipping flint of cultures rubbing against each other. And living on the border between Mexico and the U.S. for so many years gave me a lot of insight into that. Barbara Kingsolver on experience
I can count all the ways in which being a mother has enriched my understanding of the world, of character, my sense of the future and my attachment to it. I can't imagine what kind of writer I'd be if I didn't have my kids. Barbara Kingsolver on future
There's always a part of your nation's history that you haven't been told that... has a powerful impact on how you yourself may behave and may believe. Barbara Kingsolver on history
At home, growing up, we weren't really poor. We had everything we needed, we just didn't have what we wanted. Barbara Kingsolver on home
The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Barbara Kingsolver on hope
The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof. Barbara Kingsolver on hope
Few people know so clearly what they want. Most people can't even think what to hope for when they throw a penny in a fountain. Barbara Kingsolver on hope
Wars and elections are both too big and too small to matter in the long run. The daily work - that goes on, it adds up. Barbara Kingsolver on life
I used to think religion was just more of the same thing. Dump responsibility on the big guy. Now I see an importance in that. It's a relief to accept that not everything is under your control. Barbara Kingsolver on religion
I've always seen the world through the eyes of a scientist. I love the predictable outcomes that science gives us, the control over the world that that can render. Barbara Kingsolver on science
Terms like that, 'Humane Society,' are devised with people like me in mind, who don't care to dwell on what happens to the innocent. Barbara Kingsolver on society
I suppose that is my central obsession. What we owe to society, what we owe to ourselves. Barbara Kingsolver on society
Sometimes the strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws. Barbara Kingsolver on strength
Memory is a complicated thing, a relative to truth, but not its twin. Barbara Kingsolver on truth
Pain reaches the heart with electrical speed, but truth moves to the heart as slowly as a glacier. Barbara Kingsolver on truth
Empathy is really the opposite of spiritual meanness. It's the capacity to understand that every war is both won and lost. And that someone else's pain is as meaningful as your own. Barbara Kingsolver on war
Wars and elections are both too big and too small to matter in the long run. The daily work - that goes on, it adds up. Barbara Kingsolver on work
Sometimes the strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws. Barbara Kingsolver on mothersday