Sherman Alexie

Unlike landed white men, she didn't need to climb mountains to experience mystic panic. All she needed was to set her alarm dock for the next morning, wake when it rang, and go to class.

For one thing, environmentalism is a luxury.  Just like being a vegetarian is a luxury. When you have to worry about eating - you're not going to be worried about where the food's coming from, or who made your shoes.  Poverty, whether planned or not planned, is a way of making environmentalism moot. Even this discussion is a luxury.

When I had no money, and a great book came out, I couldn't get it. I had to wait. I love the idea that I have hardcover books here and at home that I haven't read yet. That's how I view that I'm rich. I have hardcover books I may never read.

Corliss had never once considered the fate of library books. She'd never wondered how many books go unread. She loved books. How could she not worry about the unread? She felt like a disorganized scholar, an inconsiderate lover, an abusive mother, and a cowardly soldier.

I'll quit eating meat when you get a cow out here to beat me at a poetry slam. Only so many words rhyme with 'Mooo.' I mean, yes, we're supposed to be better stewards; yes, we're supposed to take care of the earth; yes, we're supposed to honor the sacrifices made by the animals; yes yes yes yes yes, but dammit, we're in charge, and you know why? It's because of these [holding out thumbs]...
Maybe you think that carrots are less important than cows. I think they're equal, especially in a sauce.

I've gotten death threats from vegans… What are they going to do? Throw their Birkenstocks at me?

How self-centered, how arrogant...  Imagine the awesome privilege of living in a society where you get to choose what you eat at each and every meal.  When I was a kid, I was a vegetarian and a vegan for long stretches… I was a commodity cheese-atarian.

During a recent San Francisco antiwar protest, a young woman carried a sign that read "Vegetarians for Peace."

When are we left-wingers going to learn that we are losing the cultural and political battle with conservatives because we are fractured into narcissistic special-interest groups?  Why should an antiwar protestor be so concerned about her dietary identity?  The political opinions of vegetarians and meat-eaters are, after all, equally important.  And what does it tell us about vegetarians that it would never occur to meat-eaters to carry a sign that reads "Pacifist Pork Chop Lover for Peace" or "Backyard Rib Barbecuer for International Nuclear Disarmament"?

Listen to the stories.  You want to help the world?  Read the poetry of the people we're bombing.  Write poetry for them.  Sing songs for them, and for us.  And listen to everybody.

You cannot control how diverse any room is, or any institution, or any policy.  But you can control how diverse you are, and who you love and who you listen to.

So tonight, don't go hang out with your mirrors (whether that's physical or ideological).  Go find somebody you disagree with, and go hang out.

In a perfect world, Barney Frank and Jesse Helms are best friends.

Corliss wondered what happens to a book that sits unread on a library shelf for thirty years. Can a book  rightfully be called a book if it never gets read? If a tree falls in a forest and gets pulped to make paper for a book that never gets read, but there's nobody there to read it, does it make a sound?