Words empower us, move us beyond our suffering, and set us free. Terry Tempest Williams More Quotes by Terry Tempest Williams More Quotes From Terry Tempest Williams I think that what I was talking about was that as a woman growing up in a Mormon tradition in Salt Lake City, Utah, we were taught - and we are still led to believe - that the most important value is obedience. But that obedience in the name of religion or patriotism ultimately takes our souls. So I think it's this larger issue of what is acceptable and what is not; where do we maintain obedience and law and where do we engage in civil disobedience - where we can cross the line physically and metaphorically and say, "No, this is no longer appropriate behavior." Terry Tempest Williams growing-upbelievethinking Every time we make love to a human being, fully, we are making love to everything that lives and breathes. In that sense it becomes communion. It is a sacrament. Terry Tempest Williams communionbreathemaking-love To hold silence and to be silenced are two very different experiences. And so another theme emerges, that of light and shadow. When we share our voice, who benefits? When we withhold, who benefits? And what are the consequences and costs of both? Terry Tempest Williams voicelighttwo If a man knew what a woman never forgets, he would love her differently. Terry Tempest Williams never-forgetforgetmen To me, writing is about how we see. The writers I want to read teach me how to see-see the world differently. In my writing there is no separation between how I observe the world and how I write the world. We write through our eyes. We write through our body. We write out of what we know. Terry Tempest Williams eyewritingworld I write because it is dangerous, a bloody risk, like love, to form the words, to say the words, to touch the source, to be touched, to reveal how vulnerable we are, how transient. Terry Tempest Williams like-loveriskwriting Each of us contributes our own piece to the whole, each in our own way, each in our own time with the gifts and talents that are ours. You ask about possible vehicles for change: question, stand, speak, act. Engage in unruly behavior. Disturb the status quo. Take direct action. Commit civil disobedience. Make art. Build community. Dance. Sing. Farm. Cook. Create something beautiful and then give it away. Find your own monkey wrench and use it with the force of love. Sharpen your pencil. Vote. Terry Tempest Williams direct-actionbeautifulart If you know wilderness in the way that you know love, you would be unwilling to let it go.... This is the story of our past and it will be the story of our future. Terry Tempest Williams futurenaturelove-you When Pico [Iyer] talks about home being a place of isolation, I think he's right. But it's the paradox. I think that's why I so love Great Salt Lake. Every day when I look out at that lake, I think, "Ah, paradox" - a body of water than no one can drink. It's the liquid lie of the desert. But I think we have those paradoxes within us and certainly the whole idea of home is windswept with paradox. Terry Tempest Williams homelyingthinking When you are with a landscape or a human being where there is no need to speak, but simply to listen, to perceive, to feel. Terry Tempest Williams landscapespeakneeds I think that the only thing that can bring us into a place of fullness is being out in the land with other. Then we remember where the source of our power lies. Terry Tempest Williams landlyingthinking I still have great faith in democracy. I have great belief in the power of community. Terry Tempest Williams communitypowerlistening Agitation gives birth to creation. Terry Tempest Williams agitationbirthgiving Faith is not about finding meaning in the world, there may be no such thing -- faith is the belief in our capacity to create meaningful lives. Terry Tempest Williams maymeaningfulworld Blind obedience in the name of patriotism or religion ultimately takes our lives. Terry Tempest Williams obedienceblindnames A mother and daughter are an edge. Terry Tempest Williams daughtermotheropportunity Landscape shapes culture Terry Tempest Williams landscapeshapesculture What is the most important thing one learns in school? Self-esteem, support, and friendship. Terry Tempest Williams supportself-esteemschool I wonder how it is we have come to this place in our society where art and nature are spoke in terms of what is optional, the pastime and concern of the elite? Terry Tempest Williams our-societywonderart We usually recognize a beginning. Endings are more difficult to detect. Most often, they are realized only after reflection. Silence. We are seldom conscious when silence begins—it is only afterward that we realize what we have been a part of. In the night journeys of Canada geese, it is the silence that propels them. Thomas Merton writes, “Silence is the strength of our interior life.… If we fill our lives with silence, then we will live in hope. Terry Tempest Williams reflectionwritingnight
