novelists-from-los-angeles

"To force a change sometimes you need to stand up. You know what you’re worth – rather than what your employer is paying you. We’re not scared. To move the women’s game ahead we need to do what’s necessary. I feel other national teams are looking at us for that guidance."

"We’re trying to do the same thing and we’ve come a long way. But it gets exhausting having to do this every day, every week. Our male counterparts have not had to fight as much – so sometimes you feel a little exhausted always having to prove yourself and show your worth."

"I feel like for me, I'm tapping into a whole new level that I didn't have before getting pregnant. I was really scared going into pregnancy thinking that I might not get back to playing for my country ever again, or playing as well as I was before. And I think that's something that some female athletes do have a fear of, and so for me, I want to be as open as possible in my journey, in showing women that we are capable of incredible things and that we can be professional athletes and moms. Our bodies are capable of going through incredible things."

"I would say I'm good at organizing things, like trips or vacations. I'm always the one to book the flights, and do things like that. I like to do my research. I wouldn't say I'm a super type A personality, but I like to be organized when it comes to travel and vacation."

"I definitely think that I would be a different person without sports; they taught me so much. Just about myself, patience, teamwork, listening... it's taught me so much that I feel like I've applied to being a mom."

"But also... being a professional athlete is totally different now than two years ago, before being a mom athlete. Priorities change and you have to get up and go to training and do your job, and make the most of it, and know that when you come home there's no time to let your body stretch and just lay on the couch."

"I loved sports from a really young age. I told my parents that I wanted to become a professional soccer player when I was like 7 years old. But I think when I realized that I had the potential to be a professional soccer player, or compete for my country in a world tournament, was probably when was... I would say like 17 years old. I had a scholarship to go to college. I was on a national team, and I knew that was what I was going to do. I wanted it more than anyone else. And I was willing to work harder than anyone else to achieve that."

"Before I got pregnant, my mindset was like, it’s possible that I’ll never reach my potential again."

"When you have 12 teams in an Olympics in comparison to a World Cup where you have double that amount of teams, I think every single team is going to be difficult."

"You have to figure it out you have to be mom and a professional athlete. There’s a lot of athletes going to Tokyo that are also fellow mom athletes and I’m excited to catch up with them and kind of just represent all the moms, soccer moms united."

"I want to show that I deserve to be at the top. I want to be the best player that I can be, that I can be a valuable member of the team after being a mother."

"The fight that we are doing right now for equal pay does not mean that we will achieve it in the short term. We are not going to get the equal pay right away, but it may be done by the time my daughter plays soccer and she will not suffer what we suffered."

"I kind of knew coming back after giving birth was gonna be a process and that I was going to have to be patient with myself and my body. [But] I definitely put pressure on myself."

"My confidence makes me strong. Dedicat­ing a lot of my life to my profession and feeling fulfilled makes me strong. Having a family and a husband who chal­lenge me makes me strong."

"I understand there’s much more money in the men’s game. But Fifa spent so much time on the men they now need to focus a little more on us. I would like to close that gap even if I’m not expecting it to be equal. I’m not expecting there to be a huge jump and the win bonus to be $35m when, for the women, it’s $2m. I don’t think the entire world respects women in sport. But if Fifa start respecting the women’s game more, others will follow."

"…I know plenty of people who have been at the helm of various creative galleries, or production companies, and have never felt the need to behave poorly. It’s just a lazy justification. And as someone who has managed to go 25 years without conflating sex with power, or bullying my colleagues, I find it particularly offensive."

"One of the things my editor and I did fight about…is the idea of how much a reader can take. To me you get nowhere second guessing how much can a reader stand and how much can she not. What a reader can always tell is when you are holding back for fear of offending them. I wanted there to be something too much about the violence in the book, but I also wanted there to be an exaggeration of everything, an exaggeration of love, of empathy, of pity, of horror. I wanted everything turned up a little too high…"

"In some ways. I do want to do something very different with each book…I think this book is linked to the first but approaches it in a completely different way. The first book was much chillier, more remote. And intentionally so. I don’t think it was a book that anyone loved and I didn’t love it either. It was not a book that was meant to inspire love in the way that I think this one is."

"Part of this book is an homage to the way my friends and I live: lives without children, without marriage, lives you rarely see depicted in popular art, unless as a punch line or a tragedy, lives not considered by many to be full, legitimate adulthood. And yet when I was growing up, my parents always had a diversity of friends, some of whom lived different kinds of lives themselves…And they had many friends who had chosen this other path of adulthood, who weren’t married, who didn’t have children, whose lives didn’t resemble their own. So this sort of life never seemed like anything less-than to me. The loneliness of living the life I do comes from the fact that so many people do think it’s a lesser existence, a purgatory of true adulthood."

"“William, please. Heed your heart.” He thrust his foot into the stirrup. “No, it’s a singularly unreliable organ. I think I’ll use my mind, and...consider.”"

"“William Henry, when you were my student you honored me by noting down my words and philosophical maunderings. What said I on the subject of hate?” “A strong man hates no one, is enraged with no one,” whispered William. Spinoza continued. “He who lives under the guidance of reason endeavors as much as possible to repay hatred with love and nobleness. He who wished to avenge injuries by reciprocal hatred will live in misery. Hatred is increased by reciprocated hatred, and, on the contrary, can be demolished by love.”"

"Clouds boiled like a brooding frown in the west, and the sun drew fire from them as it sank burning and orange into their billowing embrace."

"“Terrible things have happened. The de Witts are killed.” “Is this so terrible? They have been your foes from the moment of your birth, and though out of power would have continued to conspire against you.” “Sagi, if we must needs kill our opponents then civilization is a chimera. Governments are formed so that men may disagree without murder, and I tell you true, I loathe a mob more than anything.” “They acted out of love for you.” “That does not comfort me.”"

"He suddenly remembered Prince John Maurice’s assessment of the situation in a recent letter: The government lost its head, the people its heart, the country its hope."

"There is no kindness at courts, only greed and lies and pain."

"Your passion and loyalty do you credit, Hans, but they do little to convince me that you also possess a brain."

"If you do not act, the world dies, and you with it. Surely survival is worth a little effort? Unless you are so eager to retire to that dismal heaven of your Christian god?"

"Expediency is the god of princes."

"“What magic is this” asked one young German thickly. ”Not magic. Science. Preferable to magic.” “Oh really?” said Sagitta in a freezing tone, and William blushed. “You yourself have said there are very few people with the talent of magic. Science is open to all.” “When knowledge ends, only faith remains,” said Armand. “So we should abandon the pursuit of knowledge lest we diminish faith? That’s stupid,” said William belligerently. “The simple folk of village and cottage are happier if they’re not confused with things beyond their understanding,” declared Sagitta. “Sagitta, how do we know it’s beyond their understanding?” “Because if it weren’t they wouldn’t be common,” cried Solms-Braunfels, and there was another shout of laughter from the table."

"“I confess a fascination and love for clocks.” “Why?” asked Sagitta. “There is something so reassuring about a device which echoes the movements of stars and sun and planets.” “To seek to understand the spheres is to dull their music,” said the girl softly. “I don’t agree. The better one understands, the more one can appreciate,” replied William."

"“I want so much.” Haakon laid a hand on the young man’s shoulder. “So do we all.” The prince straightened. “And only in death do we find contentment.” “Lowering thought. Is there to be no happiness in life then?” “I think not. Each moment of joy must be paid for by a moment of equal pain.” “You Dutch merchants, always keeping the books in balance. Do you see God as an accountant?” William smiled slightly. “If he is he’s a shockingly bad one. I’m more than due for some joy.” Haakon caught Barbarossa’s reins near the bit and drew the two chargers to a halt. “Then find it in the moment, H. H. Find it in the moment.”"

"“His heart and mind must be pure. He must put aside fornication—” Sagitta chuckled. “Dear Father, sex is the ultimate creative power. Your faith’s rejection of that principle will be its downfall.”"

"Magic is only useful against those with an affinity to magic."

"William too closed his eyes and prayed, but his world had lost its anchor. The Calvinist code which had dominated and supported him throughout his life seemed unequal to his present confusion. It was now apparent that predestination was a meaningless concept—certainly to one who had been told that his actions would directly affect the outcome of history for all time. But did that necessarily negate his faith entirely? Copernicus established that the earth orbited around the sun. Did God die in that moment? Or did man merely understand a little better?"

"“We are penetrating the mysteries of the cosmos, and the secrets of life at its smaller levels.” And it is wrong. You must grasp the purity of the whole, not tear from the Goddess the secrets of her heart.” “Spinoza says that the more we understand individual objects, the more we understand God. I think that is a very profound statement. Why does your goddess fear what my God does not? “The mechanistic path has led mankind to terror and suffering.” “No, ignorance and hatred and intolerance have led mankind to terror and suffering. And not all of our discoveries lead to death.”"

"Invisibility is a condition of godhead. If folk could see them, they would know the truth, and the Lords Protector would cease to be divine."

"He could hear Pa’s voice saying, “A man’s religion, his sect, is his own affair. But those people have no religion or sect. They’re a mob, with a mob’s fear and cruelty, and with half-crazy, cunning men stirring them up against others.”"

"“Why did they do it?” he asked. “Because they’re afraid.” “Of what?” “Of yesterday,” said Mr. Hostetter. “Of tomorrow.”"

"There’s never been an act done since the beginning, from a kid stealing candy to a dictator committing genocide, that the person doing it didn’t think he was fully justified. That’s a mental trick called rationalizing, and it’s done the human race more harm than anything else you can name."

"“Will it always stay like this?” “Nothing,” said Hostetter, “ever stays always like anything.”"

"“I guess we’ve got a lot to learn.” “Quite a lot,” said Hostetter thoughtfully. “It won’t be easy, either. So many things will jar against every belief you’ve grown up with, and I don’t care how you scoff at it, some of it sticks to you.”"

"You can’t destroy knowledge. You can stamp it under and burn it up and forbid it to be, but somewhere it will survive."

"“I grew up with the idea of it,” said Hostetter. “Nobody ever taught me that it was evil or forbidden, or that God had put a curse on it, and that’s the difference.”"

"“Was he trying to frighten you?” “I don’t think so,” said Len. “I think he was just telling me the truth.”"

"“I thought they knew,” Len said. “I thought they were sure of it.” “Research isn’t done that way.” “But how can they spend all that time, and maybe that much more again, if they know it might be all for nothing?” “Because how would they know if they didn’t try? And because there isn’t any other way to do it.”"

"“Hell, how do you think the human race ever learned anything, except by trial and error?” “But it all takes such a long, long time,” said Len.” “Everything takes a long time. Birthing takes nine months, and dying takes you all the rest of your life, and what are you complaining about, anyway?”"

"No matter which way I go I know now that I will never have peace. For peace is certainty, and there is no certainty but death."

"I am finished with running. Now I will stop and choose my way. Sooner or later a man has to stop and choose his way, not out of the ways he would like there to be, or the ways there ought to be, but out of the ways there are."

"Knowledge is not like sin. There is no mystical escape from it."

"I have let it blow through me, and it is just a wind. I have let the words sound in my ears, and they are nothing but words, spoken by an ignorant man with a dusty beard. They do not stir me, they do not touch me. I am done with them, too. I know now what lies across the land, the slow and heavy weight. They call it faith, but it is not faith. It is fear. The people have clapped a shelter over their heads, a necessity of ignorance, a passion of retreat, and they have called it God, and worshiped it."