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Quote by Ada Limon

“Does poetry have its issues? One hundred percent. Does poetry have its limitations? One hundred percent. It’s not going to cure disease or feed the hungry, but it might help us to understand someone else's experience just a little bit better. Or maybe it’ll make us mad and then we’ll have to interrogate why we’re mad, or implicated, or why we feel left out. Like many of the arts, poetry can be the way of recognizing our own beauty and our own flaws.”

Quote by Ada Limon

Author

Ada Limon
Ada Limon

Ada Limón is an American poet known for her profound emotions and rich language style. Her work often explores themes of personal experience, nature, and the human condition. Born on March 28, 1976, Limón's poetry has won numerous awards, including the National Book Award. more

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“To restore the human subject at the center—the suffering, afflicted, fighting human subject—we must deepen a case history to a narrative or tale; only then do we have a “who” as well as a “what,” a real person, a patient, in relation to disease—in relation to the physical. The patient’s essential being is very relevant in the higher reaches of neurology, and in psychology; for here the patient’s personhood is essentially involved, and the study of disease and of identity cannot be disjoined.”

“When you listen, you are still. When you listen, you separate from your ego. When you listen, you learn a thing or two. You strengthen the muscle of empathy, And lengthen the muscle of patience. You allow others to feel seen and heard. And when others are seen and heard, they soften. And when they soften, they relinquish their armor. When the armor is gone, you see each other’s humanity. And when your humanity is exposed, your heart expands And you see yourself in the other’s eyes.”

“Changing hearts and minds requires humbleness, empathy, and understanding. It requires that we maintain our optimism about other people and their ability to evolve and change. It means not giving up hope that they may one day have a change of heart. It means appealing and calling to that deep human longing for dignity and equality that echoes in each of us—that childlike innocence, openness, and inclination to embrace the unknown.”