The Left Hand of Darkness

“Light is the left hand of darkness
and darkness the right hand of light.
Two are one, life and death, lying
together like lovers in kemmer,
like hands joined together,
like the end and the way.”
-Ursula K. Le Guin

This is bordering on pure poetry, but it’s too well written, and too all encompassing not to include.

“A profound love between two people involves, after all, the power and chance of doing profound hurt.”

So true, and so succinctly put. You read this and know immediately what she means to convey. To have someone’s heart in your hand is no small thing, and Le Guin very much understood.


“A man wants his virility regarded. A woman wants her femininity appreciated, however indirect and subtle the indications of regard and appreciation. [Here] one is respected and judged only as a human being. It is an appalling experience.”

“One voice speaking truth is a greater force than fleets and armies…”

Le Guin routinely wrote about, and upended, conventional understandings of the human condition, and did it in a way that was colorful without being unclear.