Home > Work > Other Words for Home
1 " I want women...to understand that it is not only women who look like them who are free who think and care about other women. That it is possible for two things to look similar but be completely different. "
― Jasmine Warga , Other Words for Home
2 " Americans don't have much historyso they like things they think are old. "
3 " I want women like Aunt Michelle to understand that it is not only women who look like themare freewho thinkand care about other women. "
4 " Those men are now fighting against the government's army, and the people who live in the town don't know whose side to choose. They only want the violence to stop. Nobody knows which side is right anymore. "
5 " It feels like a place where ideas live.There is an energy in the room that excitesand frightens me. "
6 " There is an Arabic proverb that says:She makes you feellike a loaf of freshly baked bread.It is said aboutthe nicestkindestpeople.The type of peoplewho help yourise. "
7 " Hoping,I’m starting to think,might be the bravest thing a person can do. "
8 " Lucky. I am learning how to say itover and over again in English.I am learning how it tastes—sweet with promiseand bitter with responsibility. "
9 " Just like I am no longer a girl.I am a Middle Eastern girl.A Syrian girl.A Muslim girl.Americans love labels.They help them know what to expect.Sometimes, though,I think labels stop them fromthinking. "
10 " I cover my head not because I am ashamed forced or hiding. But because I am proud and want to seen as I am. "
11 " I wonder if it is exhaustingto be a tree.To lose something,year after year,only to trust that it willsomeday grow back" -Jude "
12 " Mama says the word cake like it's just an ordinary foodwhich is strange since everyone knows that cakes aremade of magic. "
13 " Too much sunshine makes a desert. "
14 " Sometimes talkingto Mama reminds meof a feather duster brushing dirtaway from a mirror.She doesn't give you anything new,but she helps you better seewhat is already there. "
15 " I have learned that sometimesthe simplest things arethe hardest things to say.That sometimes there is no wordfor what you feel,no word in any language. "
16 " Here, that food is Middle Eastern food. Baguettes are French food. Spaghetti is Italian food. Pizza is both American and Italian, depending on which restaurant you go to. Every food has a label. It is sorted and assigned. Just like I am no longer a girl. I am a Middle Eastern girl. A Syrian girl. A Muslim girl. Americans love labels. They help them know what to expect. Sometimes, though, I think labels stop them from thinking. "
17 " She tries to explain that it is like how we all expect it to be snowy in Antarctica but sunny and warm in Tahiti but if it snowed in Tahiti that would be news because it would be unexpected, but no one bats an eye when snow falls in frozen Antarctica. It takes me a while to process this, that what Layla is saying is that Americans think it’s normal for there to be violence in places where people like me are from, where people like me and people who look like me live. That they all see people like me and think violence sadness war. That’s not true, I say. Syria wasn’t always like how it is now, and it won’t always be like that either. "
18 " Proud of each other, proud of what we have created together. It is lovely to be a part of something that feels bigger than you. "
19 " We’re in a period of human history where empathy is needed more than ever. As the mother of two little girls, I’m constantly trying to teach them the idea that no one ever grows poor from giving. That sharing what you have does not make what you have worth any less. I guess that’s what this book is really about—the ever-growing need for generosity. And generosity is really just another word for love. So let’s work on giving more love to others as well as to ourselves.(from Author's Note) "
20 " That is something powerful enough to transcend oceans:a mama's ability to say somethingwithout actually saying it."-Jude "