Prized far beyond the rest;
For Ravenclaw, the cleverest
Would always be the best;
For Hufflepuff, hard workers were
Most worthy of admission;
And power-hungry Slytherin
Loved those of great ambition.
“Like racism and all forms of prejudice, bigotry against transgender people is a deadly carcinogen. We are pitted against each other in order to keep us from seeing each other as allies. Genuine bonds of solidarity can be forged between people who respect each other’s differences and are willing to fight their enemy together. We are the class that does the work of the world, and can revolutionize it. We can win true liberation.” –Leslie Feinberg (Transgender Liberation: A Movement Whose Time Has Come)
Our dear followers,
The time has finally come for us to say goodbye. Thank you for being here with us for so long. We truly, truly could not have done this without you.
This is a bittersweet moment for us. We will miss you all very much and we are so proud and glad to have brought this community together over the last ten years. There are nearly half a million of you, which is about 499,999 more than we ever expected. It is stunning to think of how many quotations we have produced over this past decade - almost 20,000!
But ten years is a long time to run a blog like this, and we are both looking forward to making space in our free time for other pursuits.
As you may have seen already, we are now closed to submissions. No more quotations will be posted. The blog will remain, as a monument to this community and as a dear memory for us. We hope you continue to enjoy it.
Thank you all so very much.
Carmen + Fiona
FOUR HOUSE: “The real magic for me is what people have created around the books and the community we have built together.” –Jackson Bird
SLYTHERIN: “If you have never been called a defiant, incorrigible, impossible woman … have faith. There is yet time.” –Clarissa Pinkola Estés (Women Who Run With the Wolves)
RAVENCLAW:
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?”
–Mary Oliver (The Summer Day)
HUFFLEPUFF:
“Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief.
Walk humbly now.
Do justly now.
Love mercy now.
You are not expected to complete the work,
but neither are you free to abandon it.”
–Rabbi Rami Shapiro (Wisdom of the Jewish Sages: A Modern Reading of Pirke Avot)
SLYTHERIN: “I tore myself away from the safe comfort of certainties through my love for the truth; and truth rewarded me.” –Simone de Beauvoir (All Said and Done)
RAVENCLAW: “All that I say is, examine, inquire. Look into the nature of things. Search out the grounds of your opinions, the for and the against. Know why you believe, understand what you believe, and possess a reason for the faith that is in in you.” –Frances Wright (On the Nature of Knowledge and Kindred Inquiries)
HUFFLEPUFF: “Wasn’t that the definition of home? Not where you are from, but where you are wanted.” –Abraham Verghese (Cutting for Stone)
GRYFFINDOR: “I don’t need to blink. Don’t need to breathe. A whirlwind could come howling in, and I wouldn’t budge. An earthquake could shake the ground, and I wouldn’t teeter. I am the force that quakes the earth.” –Xiran Jay Zhao (Iron Widow)
SLYTHERIN: “… self-admiration giveth much consolation.” –Gertrude Atherton (Julia France and Her Times)
RAVENCLAW: “If I’m to kill myself, as it were, trying to think and behave as other people want me to, I feel I might as well never have lived.” –Andrew Davies + Elizabeth Gaskell (Molly Gibson: Wives and Daughters)
HUFFLEPUFF:
“But you are not alone in this
And you are not alone in this
As brothers we will stand and we’ll hold your hand
Hold your hand
–Mumford & Sons (Timshel)
GRYFFINDOR: “A hero could be anyone. Even a man doing something as simple and reassuring as putting a coat around a young boy’s shoulders to let him know the world hadn’t ended.” –Christopher Nolan + Jonathan Nolan (Batman: The Dark Knight Rises)
SLYTHERIN: “Legends die hard. They survive as truth rarely does.” –Helen Hayes, with Sandford Dody (On Reflection, An Autobiography)