kindness of bread, sureness of love

barbara kingsolver is coming to portland literary arts this october!

having just re-read her book of essays, "small wonders", here are some of her lines that mean a lot to me, among so many.  (the time of her writing is just after 9-11, and i find it so applicable to us post-'20).

"there can be no greater spiritual accomplishment than to come through brutal trials and then look back to see that mean times did not render us mean spirits."

"i have lived long enough and had the help of wise enough friends to feel how the stones in my heart can settle when the substrate of my rage transforms into a kinder species of force.  this transformation isn't easy; possibly nothing is harder."

"empathy, comprehension, resolution...the resilience of hope, the elations of new literacy, the brilliant life of a field of flowers, the elementary kindness of bread.  nothing short of that.  it would have to be something as sure as love."