Tatoos on the Heart

If there is a fundamental challenge within these stories, it is simply to change our lurking suspicion that some lives matter less than others.  p. xiii

With That Moon Language

Admit something:
Everyone you see, you say to them,
     "Love me."
Of course you do not do this out loud;
     Otherwise,
Someone would call the cops.
Still though, think about this, 
This great pull in us to connect.  
Why not become the one
Who lives with a full moon in each eye
That is always saying
With that sweet moon
     Language
What every other eye in this world
     Is dying to
     Hear.

--Hafez

I heard someone say once, "Just assume the answer to every question is compassion.  p. 62

Sometimes it's enough simply to acknowledge how wide the gulf is that we all hope to bridge.  p. 67

Here's what we seek: a compassion that can stand in awe at what the poor have to carry rather than stand in judgment at how they carry it.  p. 67

Perma Chodron, an ordained Buddhist nun, writes of compassion and suggests that its truest measure lies not in our service of those on the margins, but in our willingness to see ourselves in kinship with them.  p. 71

She was one of the countless "what if" kids.  What if she had actually been parented?  What if she was surrounded by love and as much attention as a kid needs?  What if she just had a stable place to rest her head?  p. 93

If our primary concern is results, we will choose to work only with those who give us good ones.  p. 178