The future is dark, with a darkness as much of the womb as the grave. (chapter 1 paragraph 2)

Importance: This quote is written in response to Virginia Woolf's assertion that "the future is dark" (1). Here, Solnit reconfigures "darkness" not as defeat, despair, or terror but instead as uncertainty and the potential for new life.

This is what the world usually looks like, not like Uruguay last fall, not like the United States, but both. (chapter 2 paragraph 2)

Importance: This quote signifies Solnit's vision of history and the world: while many in the United States were in a state of despair after the reelection of George Bush, citizens of Uruguay celebrated the fall of their corrupt government and the election of a leftist leader. Solnit urges her readers to consider both stories, and a number of others, when thinking about what the state of the world is at any given moment.

We are not just an antiwar movement. We... (chapter 3 paragraph 1)