She only ever read a prayer book in big letters and in Latin. She did not understand Latin but she understood the book.
—Victor Hugo, Les Misérables
Quotes
Once you hear something, you can never return to the time before you heard it.
—Jonathan Safran Foer, Everything Is Illuminated
I wasn’t aware that words could hold so much. I didn’t know a sentence could be so full.
—Delia Owens, Where the Crawdads Sing
Tell all the truth but tell it slant
Tell all the truth but tell it slant –
Success in Circuit lies
Too bright for our infirm Delight
The Truth’s superb surprise
As Lightning to the Children eased
With explanation kind
The Truth must dazzle gradually
Or every man be blind –
Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before.
—Kurt Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle
“You love me. Real or not real?”
I tell him, “Real.”
—Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay
You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.
—Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
The Laughing Heart
your life is your life
don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission.
be on the watch.
there are ways out.
there is light somewhere.
it may not be much light but
it beats the darkness.
be on the watch.
the gods will offer you chances.
know them.
take them.
you can’t beat death but
you can beat death in life, sometimes.
and the more often you learn to do it,
the more light there will be.
your life is your life.
know it while you have it.
you are marvelous
the gods wait to delight
in you.
It’s a dark place, not knowing. It’s difficult to surrender to. But I guess it’s where we live most of the time. I guess it’s where we all live, so maybe it doesn’t have to be so lonely. Maybe I can settle into it, cozy up to it, make a home inside uncertainty.
—Nina LaCour, We Are Okay
Stop whining about getting old. It’s a privilege.
― Amy Poehler, Yes Please
That Book Broad 