ashenpages:

momentsinreading:

“My cousin Helen, who is in her 90s now, was in the Warsaw ghetto during World War II. She and a bunch of the girls in the ghetto had to do sewing each day. And if you were found with a book, it was an automatic death penalty. She had gotten hold of a copy of ‘Gone With the Wind’, and she would take three or four hours out of her sleeping time each night to read. And then, during the hour or so when they were sewing the next day, she would tell them all the story. These girls were risking certain death for a story. And when she told me that story herself, it actually made what I do feel more important. Because giving people stories is not a luxury. It’s actually one of the things that you live and die for.” –Neil Gaiman

Sometimes I feel like a selfish, useless bitch for using my life to tell stories instead of majoring in mechanical engineering or challenging sexism and brutality in the police force. Then something like this comes along and remember that while I may just be telling stories, I’m also creating comfort for people who need it, and a war cry to rally around in times of need.

Stories are really important, but the people who make them sometimes forget that. So keep telling them how much their stories have meant to you. It will give them the strength to keep telling them.