Jonathan P. Baird

This October marks 15 years since my sister, Lisa Baird, died. The above photo is a favorite of mine. Lisa was spending the summer working at the Northern Cheyenne Indian reservation in Lame Deer , Montana. I wanted to offer a few quotes that evoke Lisa:

“Do you not see how necessary a world of pains and troubles is to school an intelligence and make it a soul.” John Keats

“I like unhappy people. I understand them. Suffering creates character and human feeling. Cheerful, happy people seem like idiots to me. They seem to fly over the surface of life and never to know its meaning. They are not close to the heart of humanity but are remote and isolated. Perhaps that is why they can remain cheerful.” Nym Wales

“Unrelenting revolutionary activity coupled with boundless humanity – that alone is the real life-giving force of socialism. A world must be overturned, but every tear that has flowed and might have been wiped away is an indictment; and a man hurrying to perform a great deed who steps on even a worm out of unfeeling carelessness commits a crime.” Rosa Luxemburg

“The Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal will take care of themselves. Look after the courts of the poor, who stand most in need of justice. The security of the republic will be found in the treatment of the poor and the ignorant. In indifference to their misery and helplessness lies disaster.” Charles Evans Hughes

“Walk tall as the trees; live strong as the mountains; be gentle as the Spring winds; keep the warmth of Summer in your heart and the Great Spirit will always be with you.” Native American chant