“His mattress was his bathroom was his dinner plate
And he fights for food against roaches and rats
And the all-purpose pavement gets colder as the year gets late,
So the roaches get bigger and the vermin turn to bats.
We never have enough money to hand to cardboard holders,
But always enough for extra açaí, bacon, or premium. And we bet they're scamming us, those damn freeloaders,
But that's just it: a bet-- and premium is just premium.
We guarantee the next has it covered, that car behind us,
Ignoring how they like premium the same way we do.
First judgements have always been our widespread virus,
But truth is the property of man and that we can't lose.”
Source: Can I Tell You Something?
“What did you say about charity for example? Yet the pleasure of bestowing charity is arrogant and immoral, a rich man's pleasure in his own wealth, power and importance compared with that of a pauper. Charity corrupts both the giver and receiver; in addition, it doesn't achieve its purpose because it merely intensifies the poverty.”
Source: Demons
“… the criminal justice system affects more than the men whose lives are irrevcocably changed when they encounter the system.”
Source: Five Days: The Fiery Reckoning of an American City
“The stigma and lifelong negative bias that results from even a fleeting encounter with the criminal justice system is absolutely life changing.”
Source: Five Days: The Fiery Reckoning of an American City
“(his) actions also underscore the limits of symbolic gestures toward social justice that we also often see in the world of philanthropy. We often pay homage to what needs to change and attempt half measures, but we rarely challenge our own complicity in the structural inequities.”
Source: Five Days: The Fiery Reckoning of an American City
“The truth is that our individual efforts are important but insufficient. Our collective action -- the leaders we elect, the institutions administered in the name of the People, the other stanchions at the table --- offers an opportunity for bigger, longer-lasting action.”
Source: Five Days: The Fiery Reckoning of an American City
“I don't know why, but I don't trust the word free anymore. Lunch here is supposed to be free, but it feels like it costs me a lot.”
Source: Free Lunch
“Most of my friendships had faded over the last year because I’d isolated myself and hidden from the embarrassment of my daily life.”
Source: Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive
“Unless you truly feel the pain and sufferings of the people and living beings in flood, famine, poverty, disease, exploitation, and hunger – you cannot grow spiritually, scientifically, politically, and socially.”
Source: Walking the Path of Compassion
“Real education starts when you genuinely feel the pain and sufferings of the people and living beings in flood, famine, poverty, disease, exploitation, and hunger. Spirituality begins when you take positive actions to remove that pain and suffering.”
Source: Peace Bliss Beauty and Truth: Living with Positivity