O my enemy.
Do I terrify?
Sylvia Plath, Lady Lazarus
Books have souls. Or so romantics like me tend to think.
Douglas Rushkoff
Tonight there must be people who are getting what they want.
I let my oars fall into the water.
Good for them. Good for them, getting what they want.
The night is so still that I forget to breathe.
The dark air is getting colder. Birds are leaving.
Tonight there are people getting just what they need.
The air is so still that it seems to stop my heart.
I remember you in a black and white photograph
taken this time of some year. You were leaning against a half-shed tree,
standing in the leaves the tree had lost.
When I finally exhale it takes forever to be over.
Tonight, there are people who are so happy,
that they have forgotten to worry about tomorrow.
Somewhere, people have entirely forgotten about tomorrow.
My hand trails in the water.
I should not have dropped those oars. Such a soft wind.
Jennifer Michael Hecht, September
Those who insist on quiet are best.
Franz Kafka, Diaries
This year, mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Keep a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love and then speak it again.
Howard W. Hunter
There are still a few men who love desperately. Stay away from them. My best advice.
J.D. Salinger
1. Carefully observe oneself and one’s situation, carefully observe others, and carefully observe one’s environment.
2. Seize the initiative in whatever you undertake.
3. Consider fully, act decisively.
4. Know when to stop.
5. Keep to the middle.
-- Jigoro Kano
The moonlight looks good on you.
Elliot Fintry, Saving Elliot
A pretty sight, a lady with a book.
Shirley Jackson, We Have Always Lived in the Castle
You've got to have something to eat and a little love in your life. Everything goes smack back to that.
Billie Holiday
Fall down, make a mess, break something occasionally. And remember that the story is never over.
Conan O’Brien
Go for someone who is proud to have you.
Frank Ocean
I just want to write someone’s favorite book.
Markus Zusak
Don't let your hearts go numb. Stay alert.
Albert Schweitzer
Laugh at yourself first before anyone else can.
Elsa Maxwell
Collect books, even if you don’t plan on reading them right away. Nothing is more important than an unread library.
Austin Kleon
Live your Art. Don’t think about it.
Bill Viola
This girl who stands so quiet and grave at the mouth of hell. This girl who is all quietness and sanity and innocence. You wondered why I wanted her?
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre
–angels would damn themselves for me.
Charles Baudelaire, The Metamorphoses of the Vampire