Quotes About Community

Decisions are best made by the people affected by them.

Each others' lives are our best textbooks.

Wherever I go, bookstores are still the closest thing to a town square.

According to the wisdom of Indian Country on my own continent, it takes four generations to heal one act of violence. What

In Native spiritualities, there is often a belief that we cannot pray unless we've laughed.

That's why, if I had to name the most important discovery of my life, it would be the portable community of talking circles; groups that gather with all five senses, and allow for consciousness to change.

Altogether, if I had to pick one place to hang out anywhere, from New York to Cape Town and Australia to Hong Kong, a bookstore would be it.

People now ask me if I'm passing the torch. I always explain that no, I'm keeping my torch, thank you very much. And I'm using it to light the torches of others. Because the truth is that the old image of one person with a torch is part of the problem, not the solution. We each need a torch if we are to see where we're going. And together, we create so much more light.

Roots can exist without flowers, but no flower can exist without roots. Religion may be a flower, but people are its roots.

This balance between tribe and individuality, community and uniqueness, was a surprise in a world that makes us think we have to make a choice between them.

If I could, I would leave an open space for your story on every page.

When someone asks me if I believe in God and I say no—I believe in people—I

If you do anything people care about, people will take care of you.

but I grew to love these spontaneous gatherings in shopping malls, university bookstores, and specialty bookshops that couldn't be replaced by the big chains, all the spaces with coffee, comfortable chairs, and the presence of books that allow people to browse and discover interests they didn't know they had.

I recommend trying this kind of grassroots organizing for a week or a year, a month or a lifetime—working for whatever change you want to see in the world. Then one day you will be talking to a stranger who has no idea you played any part in the victory she or he is celebrating.

It was the first time I witnessed the ancient and modern magic of groups in which anyone may speak in turn, everyone must listen, and consensus is more important than time.

Everyone has a home but me.

people in the same room understand and empathize with each other in a way that isn't possible on the page or screen.

I'm energized by listening to people's stories and trying to figure out shared solutions.

learned: people in the same room understand and empathize with each other in a way that isn't possible on the page or screen.

writing, which is solitary, is fine company for organizing, which is communal. It just took me a while to discover that both can happen wherever you are.

Whether we work to live, as most of us do, or live to work, as some of us are lucky enough to do, work doesn't have to be a four-letter word. It can and should be a source of belonging, growth, and pleasure.

People want to come home to the church of their childhood without having to leave their adult selves behind.

We are linked, not ranked.