“Grief can destroy you - or focus you. You can decide a relationship was all for nothing if it had to end in death, and you alone. OR you can realize that every moment of it had more meaning than you dared to recognize at the time, so much meaning it scared you, so you just lived, just took for granted the love and laughter of each day, and didn't allow yourself to consider the sacredness of it. But when it's over and you're alone, you begin to see that it wasn't just a movie and a dinner together, not just watching sunsets together, not just scrubbing a floor or washing dishes together or worrying over a high electric bill. It was everything, it was the why of life, every event and precious moment of it. The answer to the mystery of existence is the love you shared sometimes so imperfectly, and when the loss wakes you to the deeper beauty of it, to the sanctity of it, you can't get off your knees for a long time, you're driven to your knees not by the weight of the loss but by gratitude for what preceded the loss. And the ache is always there, but one day not the emptiness, because to nurture the emptiness, to take solace in it, is to disrespect the gift of life.”
- Dean Koontz, Odd Hours.
#deankoontz
- Dean Koontz, Odd Hours.
#deankoontz
👍2
“I will love you for ever, whatever happens. Till I die and after I die, and when I find my way out of the land of the dead I’ll drift about forever, all my atoms, till I find you again…”
- Philip Pullman, The Amber Spyglass.
Translation
#philippullman
- Philip Pullman, The Amber Spyglass.
Translation
#philippullman
❤4👍2
“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.”
- Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird.
Translation
#harperlee
- Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird.
Translation
#harperlee
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”You're never given a dream without also being given the power to make it true.”
- Richard Bach, Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah.
Translation
#richardbach
- Richard Bach, Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah.
Translation
#richardbach
👍8
“I consider that a man's brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so that the knowledge which might be useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other things, so that he has a difficulty in laying his hands upon it. Now the skillful workman is very careful indeed as to what he takes into his brain-attic. He will have nothing but the tools which may help him in doing his work, but of these he has a large assortment, and all in the most perfect order. It is a mistake to think that that little room has elastic walls and can distend to any extent. Depend upon it there comes a time when for every addition of knowledge you forget something that you knew before. It is of the highest importance, therefore, not to have useless facts elbowing out the useful ones.”
- Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet.
Translation
#arthurconandoyle
- Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet.
Translation
#arthurconandoyle
👍12
“Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.”
- Robert Louis Stevenson.
Translation
#robertlouisstevenson
- Robert Louis Stevenson.
Translation
#robertlouisstevenson
👍3
“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”
- C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves.
Translation
#cslewis
- C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves.
Translation
#cslewis
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The truly manly ones are those who have the spark, and refuse to let it be extinguished; those who know that the true values are the vital values, not the £ s. d. and falling-into-a-good-post and the kicked-backside-of-the-Empire values.
- Richard Aldington, Death of a Hero.
Translation
#richardaldington
- Richard Aldington, Death of a Hero.
Translation
#richardaldington
❤1
“As they passed the rows of houses they saw through the open doors that men were sweeping and dusting and washing dishes, while the women sat around in groups, gossiping and laughing.
'What has happened?' the Scarecrow asked a sad-looking man with a bushy beard, who wore an apron and was wheeling a baby carriage along the sidewalk.
'Why, we've had a revolution, your Majesty -- as you ought to know very well,' replied the man; 'and since you went away the women have been running things to suit themselves. I'm glad you have decided to come back and restore order, for doing housework and minding the children is wearing out the strength of every man in the Emerald City.'
'Hm!' said the Scarecrow, thoughtfully. 'If it is such hard work as you say, how did the women manage it so easily?'
'I really do not know,' replied the man, with a deep sigh. 'Perhaps the women are made of cast-iron.”
- Lyman Frank Baum, The Marvelous Land of Oz.
Translation
#lymanfrankbaum
'What has happened?' the Scarecrow asked a sad-looking man with a bushy beard, who wore an apron and was wheeling a baby carriage along the sidewalk.
'Why, we've had a revolution, your Majesty -- as you ought to know very well,' replied the man; 'and since you went away the women have been running things to suit themselves. I'm glad you have decided to come back and restore order, for doing housework and minding the children is wearing out the strength of every man in the Emerald City.'
'Hm!' said the Scarecrow, thoughtfully. 'If it is such hard work as you say, how did the women manage it so easily?'
'I really do not know,' replied the man, with a deep sigh. 'Perhaps the women are made of cast-iron.”
- Lyman Frank Baum, The Marvelous Land of Oz.
Translation
#lymanfrankbaum
“Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts.”
- Charles Dickens.
Translation
#charlesdickens
- Charles Dickens.
Translation
#charlesdickens
❤2
“Every life is in many days, day after day. We walk through ourselves, meeting robbers, ghosts, giants, old men, young men, wives, widows, brothers-in-love, but always meeting ourselves.”
- James Joyce, Ulysses.
Translation
#jamesjoyce
- James Joyce, Ulysses.
Translation
#jamesjoyce
❤3
“Only in rare instances and with rare individuals does there seem to be any guiding light from within.”
- Theodore Dreiser, Jennie Gerhardt.
Translation
#theodoredreiser
- Theodore Dreiser, Jennie Gerhardt.
Translation
#theodoredreiser
❤2👍1
“Because to influence a person is to give him one's own soul. He does not think his natural thoughts, or burn with his natural passions. His virtues are not real to him. His sins, if there are such things as sins, are borrowed. He becomes an echo of some one else's music, an actor of a part that has not been written for him. The aim of life is self-development. To realize one's nature perfectly -- that is what each of us is here for. People are afraid of themselves, nowadays. They have forgotten the highest of all duties, the duty that one owes to oneself. Of course they are charitable. They feed the hungry, and clothe the beggar. But their own souls starve, and are naked. Courage has gone out of our race. Perhaps we never really had it. The terror of society, which is the basis of morals, the terror of God, which is the secret of religion -- these are the two things that govern us.”
- Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray and Other Stories.
Translation
#oscarwilde
- Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray and Other Stories.
Translation
#oscarwilde
👍5
“We accept the love we think we deserve.”
- Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
Translation
#stephenchbosky
- Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
Translation
#stephenchbosky
❤5
“These friends - and he laid his hand on some of the books - have been good friends to me, and for some years past, ever since I had the idea of going to London, have given me many, many hours of pleasure. Through them I have come to know your great England; and to know her is to love her. I long to go through the crowded streets of your mighty London, to be in the midst of the whirl and rush of humanity, to share its life, its change, its death, and all that makes it what it is.”
- Bram Stoker, Dracula.
Translation
#bramstoker
- Bram Stoker, Dracula.
Translation
#bramstoker
👍2❤1
“Some people turn sad awfully young. No special reason, it seems, but they seem almost to be born that way. They bruise easier, tire faster, cry quicker, remember longer and, as I say, get sadder younger than anyone else in the world. I know, for I'm one of them.”
- Ray Bradbury, Dandelion Wine.
Translation
#raybradbury
- Ray Bradbury, Dandelion Wine.
Translation
#raybradbury
❤6
“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.”
- F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby.
Translation
#fscottfitzgerald
- F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby.
Translation
#fscottfitzgerald
👍5❤1
“There is nothing else than now. There is neither yesterday, certainly, nor is there any tomorrow. How old must you be before you know that? There is only now, and if now is only two days, then two days is your life and everything in it will be in proportion. This is how you live a life in two days. And if you stop complaining and asking for what you never will get, you will have a good life. A good life is not measured by any biblical span.”
- Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls.
Translation
#ernesthemingway
- Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls.
Translation
#ernesthemingway
👍6
“Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark in the hopeless swamps of the not-quite, the not-yet, and the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserved and have never been able to reach. The world you desire can be won. It exists.. it is real.. it is possible.. it's yours.”
- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged.
Translation
#aynrand
- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged.
Translation
#aynrand
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“Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy.”
- William Golding, Lord of the Flies.
Translation
#williamgolding
- William Golding, Lord of the Flies.
Translation
#williamgolding
“It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.
It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain!I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it, or fix it.
I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.
It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see beauty even when it's not pretty, every day,and if you can source your own life from its presence.
I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, “Yes!”
It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.
It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.
It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.”
- Oriah Mountain Dreamer.
Translation
#oriahmountaindreamer
It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain!I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it, or fix it.
I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.
It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see beauty even when it's not pretty, every day,and if you can source your own life from its presence.
I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, “Yes!”
It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.
It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.
It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.”
- Oriah Mountain Dreamer.
Translation
#oriahmountaindreamer
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