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Launched in 2014, StoryBites is a weekly feature from YourStory, featuring notable quotable quotes in our articles of this past week (see the previous edition here). This special series of compilations focuses on India’s COVID-19 struggle. Share these quotes and excerpts with your networks, and check back to the original articles for more insights.

See also our pick of Top Quotes of 2021 on Entrepreneurship, Investment, Digital Transformation, Storytelling, The India Opportunity, Pandemic Resilience, Failure Recovery, Design, and Art.

We live in a world ravaged by climate emergency, pandemic and war. – Srujith Lingala, Sight and Life

There was anguish and heartache everywhere. But even in the bleakest of times, there was a ray of hope. There were people–ordinary people like you and me–who went above and beyond to help another. It’s the reason we pulled through. – Surabhi Sundaram, ‘A World On Hold’

[Entrepreneurial frugality] led to the emergence of stronger MSME post-COVID. – Chirag Gupta

The texture of courage stays the same, but the situations change. – Ashish Goel, ‘Drawing on Courage’

The return to an in-person mode of placements was well received by both students as well as recruiters. – TB Ramkamal, IIT Madras

We have seen the D2C ecosystem come a long way, the pandemic being one of the major growth drivers. – Gaurav Mangla, Pickrr

All the medium and large IT companies were resilient and could quickly transition to a ‘work from anywhere’ model in quick time. – Kris Gopalakrishnan, N Dayasindhu, and Krishnan Narayanan, ‘The IT Story Of India’

In an era where talent is valued more than ever, employers are shifting from a focus on employee experience to employee life experience – more open paid time offs, flexibility at work, and a movement towards hybrid work among others. – Sashi Kumar, Indeed India

The COVID-19 pandemic caused people to ask hard questions about their well-being at work and in their lives. – Bill George and Zach Clayton, ‘True North’

There is a real difference in psychological safety among work settings. In many remote-for-the-first-time environments, where everybody is the same size square on the video call, it’s often easier to speak up and be heard. – Brad Smith, meQuilibrium

When Covid hit, we had over 250 people with disabilities who were directly engaged with Mitti. The community came forward along with individuals who donated, so we could at least look at survival. – Alina Alam, Mitti Café

The news around us during the pandemic was so disturbing that it made all of us depressed. For me, art was the only solace during the hard times. – Preeti Prasuna, Aakriti Art Goup

The silence within and even in the atmosphere helped me create meditative works that demand silence amidst our competitive and chaotic environment. – Adithyaa Sadashiv, Shapes and Forms

I realised I had to do something within my own means instead of feeling frustrated, and I randomly picked up some fabric and decided to turn it into a scrunchie. – Sarthika Singha, GoGo On The Go

The pandemic was a period of developing new skills. I have learnt about creating virtual painting exhibitions and published my exhibition walkthroughs in my social media handles. – Bharathi Senthilvelan, Reminiscenses

YourStory has also published the pocketbook ‘Proverbs and Quotes for Entrepreneurs: A World of Inspiration for Startups’ as a creative and motivational guide for innovators (downloadable as apps here: Apple, Android).