“
Though this be madness, yet there is method in't.
”
”
William Shakespeare (Hamlet)
“
There is love in me the likes of which you've never seen. There is rage in me the likes of which should never escape. If I am not satisfied int he one, I will indulge the other.
”
”
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (Frankenstein)
“
O, wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in't!
”
”
William Shakespeare (The Tempest)
“
O, brave new world
that has such people in't!
”
”
William Shakespeare (The Tempest)
“
The secret of realizing the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment of existence is: to live dangerously! Build your cities on the slopes of Vesuvius! Send your ships out into uncharted seas! Live in conflict with your equals and with yourselves! Be robbers and ravagers as soon as you ca not be rulers and owners, you men of knowledge! The time will soon past when you could be content to live concealed int he woods like timid deer!
”
”
Friedrich Nietzsche
“
Liv, jag förstår dig inte. Men jag säger inte att det är ditt fel. Jag håller det mera troligt jag är en vanartig son än att du är en ovärdig mor.
”
”
Hjalmar Söderberg (Doctor Glas)
“
The p'int of good writing is to know when to stop.
”
”
L.M. Montgomery (Anne's House of Dreams (Anne of Green Gables, #5))
“
It is an heretic that makes the fire,
Not she which burns in't.
”
”
William Shakespeare (The Winter's Tale)
“
Men jag kan inte döda någon’, sa Jonatan, ’det vet du, Orvar!’ […]
’Om alla vore som du’, sa Orvar, ’då skulle ju ondskan få regera i all evinnerlighet!’
Men då sa jag att om alla vore som Jonatan, så skulle det inte finnas någon ondska.
”
”
Astrid Lindgren (The Brothers Lionheart)
“
I don’t know where dreams come from. Sometimes I wonder if they’re genetic memories, or messages from something divine. Warnings perhaps. Maybe we do come with an instruction booklet but we’re too dense to read it, because we’ve dismissed it as the irrational waste product of the ‘rational’ mind. Sometimes I think all the answers we need are buried in our slumbering subconscious, int he dreaming. The booklet right there, and ever night when we lay our heads down on the pillow it flips open. The wise read it, heed it. The rest of us try as hard as we can upon awakening to forget any disturbing revelations we might have found there.
”
”
Karen Marie Moning (Bloodfever (Fever, #2))
“
Jag talar inte om din bok nu, men se hur många böcker som redan skrivits om Förintelsen. Till vilken nytta? Folk har inte blivit annorlunda...
Dom kanske behöver en ny Förintelse, en ännu värre...
”
”
Art Spiegelman (The Complete Maus)
“
Heretics are wicked, but they're mighty int'resting. It's jest that they've got sorter lost looking for God, being under the impression that He's hard to find - which He ain't never.
”
”
L.M. Montgomery (Anne's House of Dreams (Anne of Green Gables, #5))
“
That's because we keep weapons int the attic, silly boy. Do you think this is the first time monsters have attacked our family?"
"Weapons," Frank grumbled. "Right. I've never handled weapons before."
Grandmother's nostrils flared. "Was that sarcasm, Fai Zhang?"
"Yes, Grandmother."
"Good. There may be hope for you yet.
”
”
Rick Riordan (The Son of Neptune (The Heroes of Olympus, #2))
“
Men naturen har förlänat människan med den lyckliga förmågan att glömma. Annars skulle hon inte stå ut med livet
”
”
Hjalmar Söderberg (Den allvarsamma leken)
“
Man får inte leva om sitt liv. Det är det som är själva grejen!
”
”
Jonas Gardell (Döden (Torka aldrig tårar utan handskar, #3))
“
What a subtle, treacherous thing it was to let yourself go that way! Because once you've started it was terribly difficult to stop; soon you were saying "I'm sorry, of course you're right", and "Whatever you think is best", and "you're the most wonderful and valuable thing int he world", and the next thing you knew all honesty, all truth, was as far away and glimmering, as hopelessly unattainable as the world of the golden people.
”
”
Richard Yates (Revolutionary Road)
“
maybe god
is a child
‘s hand)very carefully
bring
-ing
to you and to
me(and quite with
out crushing)the
papery weightless diminutive
world
with a hole in
it out
of which demons with wings would be streaming if
something had(maybe they couldn’t
agree)not happened(and floating-
ly int
o
”
”
E.E. Cummings
“
But genius, and even great talent, springs less from seeds of intellect and social refinement superior to those of other people than from the faculty of transforming and transposing them. To heat a liquid with an electric lamp requires not the strongest lamp possible, but one of which the current can cease to illuminate, can be diverted so as to give heat instead of light. To mount the skies it is not necessary to have the most powerful of motors, one must have a motor which, instead of continuing to run along the earth's surface, intersecting with a vertical line the horizontal line which it began by following, is capable of converting its speed into lifting power. Similarly, the men who produce works of genius are not those who live in the most delicate atmosphere, whose conversation is the most brilliant or their culture the most extensive, but those who have had the power, ceasing suddenly to live only for themselves, to transform their personality into a sort of mirror, in such a way that their life, however mediocre it may be socially and even, in a sense, intellectually, is reflected by it, genius consisting in reflecting power and not int he intrinsic quality of the scene reflected.
”
”
Marcel Proust (Within a Budding Grove, Part 2)
“
Hjärnan känner inga tempus. Det den har längtat efter har den redan haft. Språnget sker när vi inte vill förlora den framtid vi redan känt.
”
”
Lena Andersson (Egenmäktigt förfarande)
“
Jag har inget emot att dö, bara inte i morgon, jag har en del jag skall göra först.
”
”
Astrid Lindgren (Emil i Lönneberga (Emil i Lönneberga, #1))
“
First came bright Spirits, not the Spirits of men, who danced and scattered flowers. Then, on the left and right, at each side of the forest avenue, came youthful shapes, boys upon one hand, and girls upon the other. If I could remember their singing and write down the notes, no man who read that score would ever grow sick or old. Between them went musicians: and after these a lady in whose honour all this was being done.
I cannot now remember whether she was naked or clothed. If she were naked, then it must have been the almost visible penumbra of her courtesy and joy which produces in my memory the illusion of a great and shining train that followed her across the happy grass. If she were clothed, then the illusion of nakedness is doubtless due to the clarity with which her inmost spirit shone through the clothes. For clothes in that country are not a disguise: the spiritual body lives along each thread and turns them into living organs. A robe or a crown is there as much one of the wearer's features as a lip or an eye.
But I have forgotten. And only partly do I remember the unbearable beauty of her face.
“Is it?...is it?” I whispered to my guide.
“Not at all,” said he. “It's someone ye'll never have heard of. Her name on earth was Sarah Smith and she lived at Golders Green.”
“She seems to be...well, a person of particular importance?”
“Aye. She is one of the great ones. Ye have heard that fame in this country and fame on Earth are two quite different things.”
“And who are these gigantic people...look! They're like emeralds...who are dancing and throwing flowers before here?”
“Haven't ye read your Milton? A thousand liveried angels lackey her.”
“And who are all these young men and women on each side?”
“They are her sons and daughters.”
“She must have had a very large family, Sir.”
“Every young man or boy that met her became her son – even if it was only the boy that brought the meat to her back door. Every girl that met her was her daughter.”
“Isn't that a bit hard on their own parents?”
“No. There are those that steal other people's children. But her motherhood was of a different kind. Those on whom it fell went back to their natural parents loving them more. Few men looked on her without becoming, in a certain fashion, her lovers. But it was the kind of love that made them not less true, but truer, to their own wives.”
“And how...but hullo! What are all these animals? A cat-two cats-dozens of cats. And all those dogs...why, I can't count them. And the birds. And the horses.”
“They are her beasts.”
“Did she keep a sort of zoo? I mean, this is a bit too much.”
“Every beast and bird that came near her had its place in her love. In her they became themselves. And now the abundance of life she has in Christ from the Father flows over into them.”
I looked at my Teacher in amazement.
“Yes,” he said. “It is like when you throw a stone into a pool, and the concentric waves spread out further and further. Who knows where it will end? Redeemed humanity is still young, it has hardly come to its full strength. But already there is joy enough int the little finger of a great saint such as yonder lady to waken all the dead things of the universe into life.
”
”
C.S. Lewis (The Great Divorce)
“
Man väljer inte sitt öde. Och man väljer lika liten sin hustru eller sin älskarinna, eller sina barn. Man får dem, och man har dem, och det händer att man mister dem. Men man väljer inte!
”
”
Hjalmar Söderberg (Den allvarsamma leken)
“
Kanske får vi bara den tid som tilldelats oss på jorden. Därför ser jag det ännu tydligare nu: Jobba inte för mycket. Låt inte känslorna stanna i bröstet. Prata. Bråka aldrig om pengar. Våga säga nej. Våga säga ja. Paradiset kan vara en plats på jorden.
”
”
Kristian Gidlund (I kroppen min: Resan mot livets slut och alltings början (I kroppen min, #1))
“
Jag tycker inte om trohet därför att den är vacker, men därför att den är nödvändig. Den som bedrar en människa dödar henne långsamt.
”
”
Stig Dagerman (A Burnt Child (Quartet Encounters))
“
sometimes you have to be alone to think and sometimes the best place for thinking is'int home.
”
”
Heather Brewer
“
Det är ett sorgearbete att leva.
Om man inte förstår det
blir man aldrig glad.
”
”
Kristina Lugn (Hej då, ha det så bra!)
“
Kärleken är inte störst eller renast, den blir aldrig en perfekt blandning, bara en oren vätska. Man borde lukta på den innan man smakar. Men risken är att man ändå inte märker att den är giftig.
”
”
Malin Persson Giolito (Störst av allt)
“
It was a strange thing: one never appeared to take a step forward int he heart or mind of this man. Those who wished, so to speak, to force their way into intimacy with him found the path blocked.
”
”
Alexandre Dumas (The Count of Monte Cristo)
“
Hur väldig är ej rymden,
hur mäktig ej dess gåta,
hur liten inte jag.
”
”
Harry Martinson (Aniara)
“
Ni bygger utifrån , vi byggs inifrån och in. Ni bygger med er själva som stenar och faller sönder utifrån och in. Vi bygger inifrån som träd, och det växer ut broar mellan oss som inte är död materia och dött tvång. Från oss går det levande ut. I er går det livlösa in, sid 75
”
”
Karin Boye (Kallocain)
“
She never forgot the day she'd met him, or how his friends had told her to be more than pretty. She never forgot Elizabeth, Yennenga, Abhaya Rani. She wore his gold coin on a chain around her neck until the day she died. But the thing she treasured most was the memory of his smile, a smaile that was a wink and a dare. A wild road on a windy night. A kiss int he dark.
A smile that had given her all she'd ever wanted-a chance.
A chance to be herself.
”
”
Jennifer Donnelly (Stepsister)
“
... du försöker leva riktigt men jag försöker leva rikt, det är som en äng där jag plockar här och där av hjärtans lust men du går rakt igenom och kommer ut på andra sidan med tomma händer därför att du inte har hittat just den blomman du ville ha.
”
”
Tove Jansson (Meddelande: Noveller i urval 1971 - 1997)
“
Well, he perked right up and said, Five hundred dollars? Mrs. Elliot, I believe we can be of service to you after all.
"I doubt it, I told him. I made this money with the sweat of my brow and the labor of my hands and I've got the rawhide to prove it. I don't inted to leave it with any man that thinks money is confusing.
”
”
Nancy E. Turner (These Is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901, Arizona Territories (Sarah Agnes Prine, #1))
“
Inte konstigt att farfar fick en hjärtattack i sängen och dog. Antagligen vände han sig om en morgon och tog sig en ordentlig titt på sin fru.
”
”
Meg Cabot (Party Princess (The Princess Diaries, #7))
“
I have forgotten my mask, and my face was int it.
”
”
Kenneth Patchen (The Journal of Albion Moonlight)
“
A real drunk is only int’rested in two things: puttin paid to the jug in the hand, and huntin for the one still in the bush.
”
”
Stephen King (Dolores Claiborne)
“
And so I step up, int the darkness within; or else the light.
”
”
Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid’s Tale (The Handmaid's Tale, #1))
“
Fly! ropade muminmamman. Polisen är här!
Hon visste inte vad hennes mumintroll hade gjort men var alldeles säker på att hon gillade det.
”
”
Tove Jansson
“
I have almost forgotten the taste of fears: The time has been, my senses would have cool’d to hear a night-shriek; and my fell of hair would at a dismal treatise rouse and stir as life were in’t: I have supt full with horrors; Direness, familiar to my slaughterous thoughts, cannot once start me.
”
”
William Shakespeare (Macbeth)
“
Our society on a whole is trained to see young women. There are proportionally far more of them on magazine covers, on TV, and in films than int the actual population. As a result, we have a citizenry taught to see the young and ignore the not-so-young. It isn’t conscious; it’s Pavlovian. (13)
”
”
Victoria Moran (Younger by the Day: 365 Ways to Rejuvenate Your Body and Revitalize Your Spirit)
“
Hoppet är en parasit på människokroppen, och lever i fullskalig symbios med människohjärtat. Det räcker inte att sätta tvångströja på det och spärra in det i mörka skrymslen. [---] Näringstillförseln måste strypas helt.
”
”
Lena Andersson (Egenmäktigt förfarande)
“
Jag ville inte att min kärlek en dag skulle slockna som en fallande stjärna. Jag ville att den skulle brinna för alltid.
”
”
Jenny Han (It's Not Summer Without You (Summer, #2))
“
Du vet väl att man inte kan bli lycklig om man inte är olycklig ibland?
”
”
Lauren Oliver (Delirium (Delirium, #1))
“
There is love in me the likes of which you've never seen. There is rage in me the likes of which should never escape. If I am not satisfied int he one, I will indulge the other.
”
”
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
“
Förnuftets näsduk torkar inte känslans gråt.
”
”
Werner Aspenström
“
Vitsen med en bok är inte vad som står i den
utan vilka tankar den väcker.
”
”
Gunilla Bergström
“
Här är där där man inte är
”
”
John Ajvide Lindqvist (Let the Right One In)
“
I think you mother has Asperger's," Georgie had said to Neal.
"They didn't get Asperger's int he '50s."
"I'm just saying maybe she's on the the spectrum."
"She's just a math teacher.
”
”
Rainbow Rowell (Landline)
“
Alla är inte sanna nog för att höra sanningen, det är det sorgliga. Den kunde vara en bro mellan människa och människa - så länge den är frivillig, ja - så länge den ges som en gåva och tas emot som en gåva. Är det inte underligt att allting mister sitt värde så fort det upphör att vara en gåva - till och med sanningen?
”
”
Karin Boye (Kallocain)
“
David satt på golvet med huvudet lutat över badkaret där vattennivån sakta steg. Kanske var det fel av honom att dölja sorgen för Magnus. Men Eva var inte död, han fick inte sörja. Och Eva levde inte, han fick inte hoppas. Ingenting.
”
”
John Ajvide Lindqvist (Handling the Undead)
“
[...] och det var snarare det som gjorde honom desperat, att han insåg att det gick att gå vidare, att det inte var något av det som hade varit så stort som var stort nog att han skulle minnas det på riktigt [...]
”
”
Jonas Hassen Khemiri (Allt jag inte minns)
“
Leontes is whispering nothing?
Is leaning cheek to cheek? Is meeting noses?
Kissing with inside lip? Stopping the career
Of laughter with a sigh?- a note infallible
Of breaking honesty. Horsing foot on foot?
Skulking in corners? Wishing clocks more swift;
Hours, minutes; noon, midnight? And all eyes
Blind with the pin and web but theirs, theirs only,
That would unseen be wicked - is this nothing?
Why, then the world and all that's in't is nothing;
The covering sky is nothing; Bohemia nothing;
My wife is nothing; nor nothing have these nothings,
If this be nothing.
”
”
William Shakespeare
“
Vi har gått mot allt strängare övervakning - och den har inte gjort oss säkrare, som vi hoppades, utan ängsligare. Med vår skräck växer också impulsen att så omkring oss. Är det inte så: då ett vilt djur känner sig hotat och inte ser någon utväg att fly, går den till anfall. Då skräcken smyger sig över oss, finns det inget annat att göra än att hugga först. Det är svårt, när vi inte ens vet vartåt vi ska hugga... Men bättre förekomma en förekommas ( s. 105)
”
”
Karin Boye (Kallocain)
“
i feel small; but so are stars from a distance.
”
”
efb / izzy (ad int.)
“
Condemn you me for that the duke did love me?
So may you blame some fair and crystal river,
For that some melancholic distracted man
Hath drowned himself in’t.
”
”
John Webster (The White Devil)
“
The wall I'd built up against the well of pain and fear and anger finally collapsed, and I began to cry. I sobbed, the way I had int he garage of my parents' house on the last morning before they took me, I bawled because it was such a relied not to have to hold it in any longer, to have to pretend.
”
”
Alexandra Bracken (In the Afterlight (The Darkest Minds, #3))
“
Somebody sniggered. From Somewhere int he back of the room someone else sneered, "Yeah, Hazel," which was not the greatest insult ever, but one thing Hazel had learned at her new school was when it comes to insults it's the thought that counts
”
”
Anne Ursu (Breadcrumbs)
“
...aunque obviamente los humanos hemos sobrevivido a cualquier virus o meteorito que la naturaleza nos ha lanzado hasta ahora, la tecnología es algo que nosotros nos lanzamos a nosotros mismos por nuestra cuenta y riesgo.
”
”
Alan Weisman (The World Without Us)
“
On the flight home, I daydreamed of Tottenham Court Road and ordering shit off Amazon. I thought of Farly's laugh and the sound of my flatmates getting ready for work int he morning and the smell of my mum's perfume in her hair when I hug her. I thought of the bliss mundanity of life; of what a privilege it was to live it.
”
”
Dolly Alderton (Everything I Know About Love)
“
I väntrummet sitter Britt-Marie kvar. Ensam. Inte ens kakaduan är kvar. Om Britt-Marie hade rest sig och gått så hade nog ingen kommit ihåg att hon varit där. Hon ser ut att tänka på det ett ögonblick. Sedan borstar hon något osynligt från kanten av bordet och rättar till ett veck i sin kjol, och sedan reser hon sig och går.
”
”
Fredrik Backman (Min mormor hälsar och säger förlåt)
“
Första gången jag såg dig, vid Guvernören, hade jag inte varit och sett på fåglarna vid gränsen på många år. Men det var dem du påminde mig om. Du hoppade upp och du skrek något, och ditt hår höll på att lossna ur hästsvansen, och du var så snabb..." Han skakar på huvudet. "Som en blixt, och sedan var du borta. Precis som en fågel.
”
”
Lauren Oliver (Delirium (Delirium, #1))
“
Du är energi och energi kan inte skapas eller förstöras. Energi ändrar bara form. Och det betyder Du! Den sanna essensen av det som är Du, den rena energin som är Du, har alltid funnits och kommer alltid att finnas. Du kan inte sluta med att vara [...] Du är evig energi.
”
”
Rhonda Byrne
“
Cathy smiled back ‘Rules were meant to be broken.’
‘Don’t disagree,’ Oversteegen replied immediately. ‘Indeed they are. Providin’, however, that the one breakin’ the rules is willin’ t’ pay the price for it, and the price gets charged in full. Which you were, Lady Catharine. I saluted you for it then–at the family dinner table that night, in fact. My mother was infinitely more indisposed thereafter; tottered back t’ her bed cursin’ me for an ingrate. My father was none too pleased either. I salute you for it, again. Otherwise, breakin’ rules becomes the province of brats instead of heroes. Fastest way I can think t’ turn serious political affairs int’ a playpen. A civilized society needs a conscience, and conscience can’t be developed without martyrs—real ones—against which a nation can measure its crimes and sins.
”
”
David Weber (Crown of Slaves (Honorverse: Wages of Sin, #1))
“
BECOMING AN ARTIST IS A RECKLESS ACT OF INSANITY. BUT, IF I MAY QUOTE A PLAY THAT I THINK MIGHT BE A FAVORITE OF YOURS, “THOUGH THIS BE MADNESS, / YET THERE IS METHOD IN’T.
”
”
Dana Schwartz (And We're Off)
“
You're glowering again," Abigail whispered, stepping to his side and giving him a sharp rap with the fan she was clutching.
"Can you blame me?"
Abigail shot a look to Harriet who was having her hand accosted by an earnest young gentleman by the name of Mr. Richmond Sprout. "Not int he least, dear, but you really should try to control that temper of yours. The last thing we need this evening is for you to punch someone."
"That thought never entered my head."
"Of course it did, but I find it rather sweet.
”
”
Jen Turano (After a Fashion (A Class of Their Own, #1))
“
Even when in the deepest distress, the actor ultimately cannot cease to think of the impression he and the whole scenic effect is making, even for example at the burial of his own child; he will weep over his own distress and the ways in which it expresses itself, as his own audience. The hypocrite who always plays one and the same role finally ceases to be a hypocrite; for example priests, who as young men are usually conscious or unconscious hypocrites, finally become natural and then really are priests without any affectation; or if the father fails to get that far then perhaps the son does so, employing his father's start and inheriting his habits. If someone obstinately and for a long time wants to appear something it is int he end hard for him to be anything else. The profession of almost every man, even that of the artist, begins with hypocrisy, with an imitation from without, with a copying of what is most effective. He who is always wearing a mask of a friendly countenance must finally acquire a power over benevolent moods without which the impression of friendliness cannot be obtained - and finally these acquire power over him, he is benevolent.
”
”
Friedrich Nietzsche (Human, All Too Human)
“
Jag har saknat dig, min ängel. Det gick inte en enda dag utan att jag saknade dig i mitt liv. Det plågade mig så mycket att jag började tro att Hank hade brutit löftet och dödat dig. Jag såg ditt spöke överallt. Jag kunde inte glömma dig, och jag ville inte. Du hemsökte mig, men det var bättre än att förlora dig helt.
”
”
Becca Fitzpatrick (Silence (Hush, Hush, #3))
“
Med människor i en liten båt sker något sällsamt. Vad de upplever är att de känner sig ensamma. Vad de känner är att de är ensamma tillsammans, tillsammans med de andra i båten. Därför uppstår mellan människor i små båtar en tillfällig tillgivenhet. Man har ju bara varandra och djupa vatten är skrämmande och små båtar är mycket bräckliga. Var och en blir den andres livboj. Är inte du rädd så inte är jag det.
”
”
Stig Dagerman (A Burnt Child (Quartet Encounters))
“
I know realized that this was how you enslaved a people. You didn't just bring them over in chains from Africa. No, you convinced them that they were inferior, not evolved, subhuman, and then you took off their shackles, so they could go to work, you'd still have them enslaved and shackled inside of their minds for hundreds of years. And this system of teaching was fine with most Anglo teachers, because int he act of convincing us, los Mexicanos and the Blacks, we were subhuman, they'd also convinced themselves that they were superior!
”
”
Victor Villaseñor (Burro Genius: A Memoir)
“
Jag vet att om mitt hjärta inte satt fast bakom revbenen skulle det rymma sin väg och aldrig komma tillbaka. Det är för väl att människans viktigaste organ är placerat bakom galler. Där kan det sen sitta och bitas och slåss bäst det vill och slå mot trumhinnorna tills allt som hörs är ett stadigt tickande. Som från en bomb eller ett präktigt schweiziskt armbandsur.
”
”
Amanda Svensson (Hey Dolly)
“
Det som binder henne och det som också binder honom är ögonblickets skönhet. Ingenting är ju så vackert som de första ensamma minuterna med någon som skulle kunna älska en och någon man själv skulle kunna älska. Det finns ingenting så tyst som de minuterna, ingenting så mättat med ljuv förväntan. För de få minuterna är det som man älskar, inte för de många som följer. Aldrig mer, vet de, skall något så vackert hända dem. Gladare skall de kanske bli, hetare också och oändligt nöjda med sina egna kroppar och varandras. Men aldrig mer skall det bli så vackert.
”
”
Stig Dagerman (A Burnt Child (Quartet Encounters))
“
Dom höll varandras händer. Dom hade samma svarta hårfärg. Dom sprang i takt med varandra fast den ena sprang med knäna högt som en gasell (Laide) och den andra sprang som om han inte ville att kroppen skulle lämna marken (Samuel). Det finns få saker som är så svåra som att springa och hålla varandras händer och jag minns att när jag säg det så tänkte jag: Okej. Dom kanske är menade för varandra. Det kanske bara är att acceptera. Jag kanske har haft fel.
”
”
Jonas Hassen Khemiri (Allt jag inte minns)
“
Mr. Lisbon knew his parental and neighborly duty entailed putting the retainer in a Ziploc bag, calling the Kriegers, and telling them their expensive orthodontal device was in safe keeping. Acts like theses -- simple, humane, conscientious, forgiving -- held life together. Only a few days earlier he would have been able to perform them. But now he took the retainer and dropped it in the toiler. He pressed the handle. The retainer, jostled int he surge, disappeared down the porcelain throat, and, when waters abated, floated triumphantly, mockingly, out, Mr. Lisbon waited for the tank to refill and flushed again, but the same thing happened. The replica of the boy's mouth clung to the white slope.
”
”
Jeffrey Eugenides (The Virgin Suicides)
“
INT. MINISTÈRE DES AFFAIRES MAGIQUES, RECORDS ROOM ATRIUM—NIGHT
MELUSINE: Puis-je vous aider?
NEWT: Er—yes, this is Leta Lestrange. And—I’m her—
TINA: Fiancé.
There is an increased awkwardness between them.
NEWT: Tina, about that fiancée business—
TINA (brittle): Sorry, yeah. I should have congratulated you—
The doors to the records office open. They enter briskly.
INT. MINISTÈRE DES AFFAIRES MAGIQUES, RECORDS ROOM—NIGHT
The doors close behind them, plunging them into darkness.
NEWT: No, that’s—
TINA: Lumos.
NEWT: Tina—about Leta—
TINA: Yes, I’ve just said, I am happy for you—
NEWT: Yeah, well, don’t.
She stops. Looks at him. What?
NEWT: Please don’t be happy.
(in trouble) Uh, no, no. I’m sorry. I don’t . . . Uh, obviously, I—Obviously I want you to be. And I hear that you are now. Uh, which is wonderful. Sorry—
(a gesture of hopelessness) What I’m trying to say is, I want you to be happy, but don’t be happy that I’m happy, because I’m not.
(off her confusion) Happy.
(off her continued confusion) Or engaged.
TINA: What?
NEWT: It was a mistake in a stupid magazine. My brother’s marrying Leta, June the sixth. I’m supposed to be best man. Which is sort of mildly hilarious.
TINA: Does he think you’re here to win her back?
(beat)
Are you here to win her back?
NEWT: No! I’m here to—
A beat. He stares at her.
NEWT: —you know, your eyes really are—
TINA: Are what?
NEWT: I’m not supposed to say.
Pickett is climbing out of NEWT’S pocket onto the nearest shelf. NEWT doesn’t notice.
A beat. In a rush
TINA: Newt, I read your book, and did you—?
NEWT: I still have a picture of you—wait, did you read—?
NEWT pulls the picture of her from his breast pocket and unfolds it. She is inordinately touched. He looks from the picture to TINA.
NEWT: I got this—I mean, it’s just a picture of you from the paper, but it’s interesting because your eyes in newsprint . . . See, in reality they have this effect in them, Tina . . . It’s like fire in water, in dark water. I’ve only ever seen that—
(struggling) I’ve only ever seen that in—
TINA (whispers): Salamanders?
”
”
J.K. Rowling (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald: The Original Screenplay (Fantastic Beasts: The Original Screenplay, #2))
“
Trees don't rely exclusively on dispersal in the air, for if they did, some neighbors would not get wind of the danger. Dr. Suzanne Simard of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver has discovered that they also warn each other using chemical signals sent through the fungal networks around their root tips, which operate no matter what the weather. Surprisingly, news bulletins are sent via the roots not only by means of chemical compounds but also by means of electrical impulses that travel at the speed of a third of an inch per second. In comparison with our bodies, it is, admittedly, extremely slow. However there are species in the animal kingdom, such as jellyfish and worms, whose nervous systems conduct impulses at similar speed. Once the latest news has been broadcast, all oaks int he area promptly pump tannins through their veins.
”
”
Peter Wohlleben (The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate: Discoveries from a Secret World)
“
Observe her when she has some knitting, or some other woman's work in hand, and sits the image of peace, calmly intent on her needles and her silk, some discussion meantime going on around her, in the course of which peculiarities of character are being developed, or important interests canvassed; she takes no part in int; her humble, feminine mind is wholl with her knitting; none of her features move; she neither presumes to smile approval, nor frown disapprobation; her little hands assiduously ply their unpretending task; if she can only get this purse finished, or this bonnet-grec completed, it is enough for her.
”
”
Charlotte Brontë (The Professor)
“
As many as thirty or as few as ten years later, lying exhausted and still, eyes open in the dark long after the three suns of Rakhat had set, no longer bleeding, past the vomiting, enough beyond the shock to think again, it would occur to Emilio Sandoz to wonder if perhaps that day int he Sudan was really only part of the setup for a punchline a life-time in the making. It was an odd thought, under the circumstances. He understood that, even at the time. But thinking it, he realized with appalling clarity that on his journey of discovery as a Jesuit, he had not merely been the first human being to set foot on Rhakhat, had not simply explored parts of its largest continent and learned two of its languages and loved some of its people. He had also discovered the outermost limit of faith and, in doing so had located the exact boundary of despair. It was at that moment that he learned, truly, to fear God.
”
”
Mary Doria Russell (The Sparrow (The Sparrow, #1))
“
Jag skriver inte för alla
Jag skriver för dej
Du som fyller huvudet med drömmar och fantasi
Och som krockar med verklighetens lyktstolpar om och om igen
Jag skriver för dej
Du som tänker på livet, hur det är och hur det kunde vara
Du som tänker på döden
Jag skriver för dej
Du som gör listor med viktiga saker
Du som försöker förstå hur allt hänger ihop
Du som funderar på tiden vi lever i
Och varför världen ser ut som den gör
Och på hur allt ska bli och hur allt skulle kunna vara
Jag skriver för dej
Du som vet att du inte är som de andra
Och för dej, du som känner igen dej
Jag skriver för dej
Du som gråter i nattsvart hopplöshet
Och för dej
Du som skrattar,
Som vet att världen är vacker
Och att livet är ett spännande äventyr
Jag skriver inte för alla
Jag skriver för dej
”
”
Per Nilsson
“
Adam arrived at 735 Monroe Street prepared for the woman to be a bit skittish.
After all, she'd run from him earlier, obviously intimidated by his overwhelming masculinity and epic sexuality. Women often had that reaction to him, especially when he was stripping off his pants. Or kilt, depending on the century.
He was also prepared, however, for her inhibitions to drop swiftly, as did all women's when they got a good, close-up look at him.
After that, many simply launched themselves at him in a full-frontal assault of sexual frenzy. He'd been entertaining himself with just that possibility, his entire body tight with lust, while tracking her down with the information he'd obtained int he room called "Human Resources" at Little & Staller.
But nothing in his vast repertoire of experience had prepared him for Gabrielle O'Callaghan.
The bloodthirsty little hellion didn't react like any woman he'd ever encountered. She took one horrified look at him, drew back her arm, hauled off, and smashed him in the face with some kind of satchel she was holding.
Then slammed the door and locked it.
Leaving him on the doorstep, bleeding. Bleeding, by Danu, blood trickling from his lip!
”
”
Karen Marie Moning (The Immortal Highlander (Highlander, #6))
“
INT. PARISIAN CAFÉ—EVENING
KAMA leaves the café. The feather points at him. NEWT lets it out and it flies to KAMA’S hat.
JACOB: Is that the guy we’re looking for?
NEWT: Yes.
NEWT and JACOB jump up to confront him.
NEWT (to KAMA): Er—bonjour. Bonjour, monsieur.
KAMA makes to carry on walking, ignoring NEWT.
NEWT: Oh wait, no, sorry. We were . . . we were actually just wondering if you’d come across a friend of ours?
JACOB:Tina Goldstein.
KAMA: Monsieur, Paris is a large city.
NEWT: She’s an Auror. When Aurors go missing, the Ministry tend to come looking, so . . . No, now I suppose it would probably be better if we just report her absence—
KAMA (deciding): She is tall? Dark? Rather—
JACOB: —intense?
NEWT: —beautiful—
JACOB (hasty, off NEWT’S look): —Yeah, what I meant to say—she’s very—very pretty—
NEWT: She’s intense too.
”
”
J.K. Rowling (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald: The Original Screenplay (Fantastic Beasts: The Original Screenplay, #2))
“
Älskade Lillebror, vad är det som har hänt", sa hon och slog armarna om honom.
"Krister har kastat sten på mej", sa Lillebror argt.
"Nej, vet nån vad", sa mamma, "en sån elak pojke! Varför kom du inte in och sa till mej?"
Lillebror ryckte på axlarna.
"Vad skulle det vara bra för? Du kan ju inte kasta sten. Du skulle inte kunna pricka rätt på en lagårdsvägg ens en gång."
"Å, din lilla dumbom", sa mamma. "Inte tror du väl att jag tänkte kasta sten på Krister heller!"
"Vad skulle du annars kasta", undrade Lillebror. "Det finns inget annat, åtminstone inget som är lika bra.
”
”
Astrid Lindgren (Karlsson on the Roof)
“
We got to the moment when I wake up from being "mostly dead" and say: "I'll beat you both apart! I'll take you both together!", Fezzik cups my mouth with his hand, and answers his own question to Inigo as to how long it might be before Miracle Max's pill begins to take effect by stating: "I guess not very long."
As soon as he delivered that line, there issued forth from Andre' one of the most monumental farts any of us had ever heard. Now I suppose you wouldn't expect a man of Andre's proportions to pass gas quietly or unobtrusively, but this particular one was truly epic, a veritable symphony of gastric distress that roared for more than several seconds and shook the very foundations of the wood and plaster set were now grabbing on to out of sheer fear. It was long enough and loud enough that every member of the crew had time to stop what they were doing and take notice. All I can say is that it was a wind that could have held up in comparison to the one Slim Pickens emitted int eh campfire scene in Mel Brooks's Blazing Saddles, widely acknowledged as the champion of all cinematic farts.
Except of course, this one wasn't in the script.
”
”
Cary Elwes (As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride)
“
Frågar du mig var jag finns
så bor jag här bakom bergen
Det är långt men jag är nära
Jag bor i en annan värld
men du bor ju i samma
Den finns överallt om också sällsynt som helium
Varför begär du ett luftskepp att fara med
Begär i stället ett filter för kväve
ett filter för kolsyra, väte och andra gaser
Begär ett filter för allt som skiljer oss
ett filter för livet
Du säger att du nästan inte kan andas
Än sen! Vem tror du kan andas?
Den mesta tiden tar vi det ändå med jämnmod
En vis man har sagt :
>>Det var så mörkt att jag nätt och jämt kunde se stjärnorna<<
Han menade bara att det var natt
”
”
Gunnar Ekelöf (Strountes)
“
INT. DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS CLASS—FOURTEEN YEARS PREVIOUSLY—DAY
It is Boggart time. DUMBLEDORE supervises the line of teenagers advancing to try their luck. “Riddikulus”—“Riddikulus”—gusts of hilarity as a shark becomes a flotation device, a zombie’s head turns into a pumpkin, a vampire turns into a buck-toothed rabbit.
DUMBLEDORE: All right, Newt. Be brave.
16-YEAR-OLD NEWT moves to the front of the queue. The Boggart turns into a Ministry desk.
DUMBLEDORE: Mmm, that’s an unusual one. So Mr. Scamander fears what more than anything else in the world?
16-YEAR-OLD NEWT: Having to work in an office, sir.
The class roars with laughter.
DUMBLEDORE: Go ahead, Newt.
16-YEAR-OLD NEWT: Riddikulus!
NEWT turns the desk into a gamboling wooden dragon and moves aside.
DUMBLEDORE: Well done. Good job.
”
”
J.K. Rowling (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald: The Original Screenplay (Fantastic Beasts: The Original Screenplay, #2))
“
TINA: I’ll have to go to the Ministry with what I’ve got.
(a wobble in her voice) It was nice to see you again, Mr. Scamander.
She strides from the room, leaving NEWT perplexed and upset.
INT. FLAMEL HOUSE, HALLWAY—AFTERNOON
JACOB follows TINA into the hall.
JACOB: Hey, hold on one second, will you? Well, hold on! Wait! Tina!
She leaves. As the front door closes, NEWT appears at the drawing room door.
JACOB: (to NEWT)
You didn’t mention salamanders, did you?
NEWT: No, she just—ran. I don’t know . . .
JACOB (firm): So you chase after her!
NEWT grabs his case. He leaves.

EXT. RUE DE MONTMORENCY—END OF DAY
TINA is hurrying up the road. NEWT hastens to catch up.
NEWT: Tina. Please, just listen to me—
TINA: Mr. Scamander, I need to go talk to the Ministry—and I know how you feel about Aurors—
NEWT: I may have been a little strong in the way that I expressed myself in that letter—
TINA: What was the exact phrase? “A bunch of careerist hypocrites”?
NEWT: I’m sorry, but I can’t admire people whose answer to everything that they fear or misunderstand is “kill it”!
TINA: I’m an Auror and I don’t—
NEWT: Yes, and that’s because you’ve gone middle head!
TINA (stopping): Excuse me?
NEWT: It’s an expression derived from the three heads of the Runespoor. The middle one is the visionary. Every Auror in Europe wants Credence dead—except you. You’ve gone middle head.
A beat.
TINA: Who else uses that expression, Mr. Scamander?
NEWT considers.
NEWT: I think it might just be me.
”
”
J.K. Rowling (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald: The Original Screenplay (Fantastic Beasts: The Original Screenplay, #2))
“
- Människor är inte så små som man tror. Och inte så stora. Felet med att ha makten som bedömningsgrund och inte handlingarna är att nästan alla friskriver sig då, var och en hittar sin maktlöshet när de behöver den. För alla är maktlösa inför någon, och något. Alla har ett skikt av maktlöshet i sig, i sin upplevelse av sig själva i tillvaron, som de då använder. Och därför ser världen ut som den gör. Alla har en glipa i sin makt, även när de vet att de har makt och ansvar, som de kan utnyttja för att förstå varför de måste handla som de gör. Moralen börjar hos individen. Man måste kräva den av alla. De som har makt föddes maktlösa och denna känsla är den som består i dem hela livet, särskilt i de stunder då de handlar fel. Då minns de att de blev mobbade på skolgården och slagen av pappa och inser att allt är någon annans fel även nu.
”
”
Lena Andersson (Egenmäktigt förfarande)
“
So who told you that you had a chip on your shoulder?"
"Never mind." I shoved a piece of lasagna int my mouth so I couldn't answer.
"It was a cute guy, wasn't it?" Kelly said. "Those types pf statements only bother you if cute guys say them."
I didn't answer, and I didn't look at them.
"Must have been a really cute guy." Aleeta said.
Kelly leaned forward. "Who was it, and do you like him?"
I took another bite of lasagna.
"She likes him." Aleeta said with a smile.
"Ryan Geno?" Kelly asked. "Arnold Carrillo?"
"Colton Taft." Aleeta said as though sure she was right.
Kelly nodded. "Which means we're really talking about Bryant, aren't we?"
Aleeta leaned closer to the table and lowered her voice. "Charlotte likes Bryant?"
"No," I said quickly.
"No," Kelly repeated, "She doesn't like him, which is why Colton thinks she has a chip on her shoulder." She turned to me then, wearing a triumphant smile. "I'm right, aren't I?"
I shuffled pieces of lasagna around my plate. "I should stop hanging out with smart people.
”
”
Janette Rallison (It's a Mall World After All)
“
Somewhere int he flesh of the earth the dreadful earthquake shuddered, the tide walked to and fro on the leash of the moon, rainbows formed, winds swept the sky like giant brooms piling up clouds before them, clouds which writhed into different shapes, melted into rain or darkened, bruised themselves against an unseen antagonist and went on their way, laced with forking rivers of lightning, complete with white electric tributaries. Out of this infinite vision an infinity of details could be drawn, but Sonny had settled on one, and from the endless series a particular beach was chosen and began to form around Laura - a beach of iron-dark sand and shells like frail stars, and a wonderful wide sea that stretched, neither green nor blue, but inked by the approach of night into violet and black, wrinkling with its own salty puzzles, right out to a distant, pure horizon.
”
”
Margaret Mahy (The Changeover)
“
For others, however, the significance of anxiety in disclosing a fundamental insight into human existence is grasped. At this point their consciences will never allow them to return to a contented absorption in particular entities. Any such attempt to do so will be felt deep down as a betrayal of their truer instincts. Those things which previously were experienced with full satisfaction will now seem shallow, hollow, and somehow meaningless. We come to understand with greater and greater clarity that absorption int the world of things provides no refuge, and one ceases to center one's hope in them. At this critical juncture of human existence two basic alternatives remain: either to dismiss existence in general and man's existence in particular as essentially futile and absurd, or to place one's hope in the actualization of a greater purpose or meaning that is not immediately evident within the realm of empirical data.
”
”
Stephen Batchelor (Alone with Others: An Existential Approach to Buddhism (Grove Press Eastern Philosophy and Literature))
“
But the process should not be confused with science. When tests are used as selections devices, they're not a neutral tool; they become a large factor int he very equation they purport to measure. For one thing, the tests tend to screen out - or repel - those who would upset the correlation. If a man can't get into the company in the first place because he isn't the company type, he can't very well get to be an executive and be tested in a study to find out what kind if profile subsequent executives should match. Long before personality tests were invented, of course, plenty of companies proved that if you only hire people of a certain type, then all your successful men will be people of that type. But no one confused this with the immutable laws of science.
”
”
William H. Whyte (The Organization Man)
“
My gaze flicks to the black coat he is still holding above my head to shield me from the rain. "..You do know I'm already soaked, right?" "Yes, well." He sighs and ducks his head so we are eye to eye. "As adorable as you looked blinking up at me in the rain, I want you to see me clearly when I tell you this." There goes that stupid flutter in my chest. "I meant what I said. I can't take my eyes off you. I can't take my mind off you." I look away from his burning gaze, shaking my head as I mutter, "Kai, I-" "Paedyn." I still. I shiver. He says my name like it's sacred, like it's an oath he's swearing. He tilts his head to the side, eyes roaming over my face. "Tell me." he murmurs, "what do you want me to call you?" My eyes slowly meet his, confused by his question. "What do you want to call me?" "I want to call you mine." We stare at each other. Both of us breathing hard, both of us taking int he other. The rain is still splattering Kai, clinging to his thick lashes and dripping from his jaw. "I know you feel it too," he says quietly. "Feel what?" "Feel alive. Feel on fire. Feel." There is an intensity in his eyes, his voice, that makes my heart race even faster. He looks away, cursing under his breath before his gaze crashes back into mine. "Pae, when I look at you...I'm devastated. I'm drowning. I'm dying to catch my breath.
”
”
Lauren Roberts, Powerless
“
Cowgirl Interlude (Bonanza Jellybean)
She is lying on the family sofa in flannel pajamas. There is Kansas City mud on the tips and heels of her boots, boots that have yet to savor real manure. Fourteen, she knows she ought to remove her boots, yet she refuses. A Maverick rerun is on TV; she is eating beef jerky, occasionally slurping. On her upper stomach, where her pajama top has ridden up, is a small deep scar. She tells everyone, including her school nurse, that it was made by a silver bullet.
Whatever the origin of the extra hole in her belly, there are unmistakable signs of gunfire int he woodwork by the closet door. It was there that she once shot up one half of an old pair of sneakers. "Self-defense," she pleaded, when her parents complained. "It was a [sic] out-law tennis shoe.
Billy the Ked.
”
”
Tom Robbins (Even Cowgirls Get the Blues)
“
Tror du inte jag förstår? Den hopplösa drömmen om att vara. Inte verka utan vara. I varje ögonblick medveten, vaksam. Och samtidigt avgrunden mellan vad du är inför andra och vad du är inför dig själv. Svindelkänslan och den ständiga hungern att äntligen få bli avslöjad. Att få bli genomskådad, reducerad, kanske till och med utplånad. Varje tonfall en lögn, varje gest en förfalskning, varje leende en grimas. Ta livet av sig? Nej då, det är för otäckt. Det gör man inte. Men man kan bli orörlig, man kan bli tyst. Då ljuger man åtminstone inte. Man kan stänga in sig, skärma av. Då behöver man inte spela några roller, visa några ansikten, göra några falska gester – tror man. Men ser du, verkligheten jävlas. Ditt gömställe, det är inte tillräckligt tätt. Överallt sipprar det in livsyttringar. Du tvingas reagera. Det är ingen som frågar efter om det är äkta eller oäkta, om du är sann eller förljugen. Det är bara på teatern som sådant är en fråga av vikt. Knappt där heller för den delen. Jag förstår dig, Elisabet. Jag förstår att du tiger, jag förstår att du är orörlig, att du har satt viljelösheten i ett fantastiskt system. Jag förstår och jag beundrar. Jag tycker att du ska hålla på med den rollen tills den är färdigspelad, tills den inte längre är intressant. Då kan du ju lämna den, precis som du undan för undan lämnar alla dina andra roller.
”
”
Ingmar Bergman
“
Why’re you like that?” the boy persisted.
“Like what?” Paragon finally asked in annoyance.
“Ya’know. Allus mad. Or crazy fightin’ Say’n stuff ta be mean.”
“How else do you expect me to be?” Paragon retorted. “Joyous that they’ve dragged me out here? All excited to go off on a hare-brained rescue mission with them?”
He felt the boy’s shrug. “Ya could be.”
“I could be?” Paragon snorted. “I’d like to know how.”
“S’easy. Ya decide t’be.”
“You decide to be happy? I should just forget everything that has been done to me, and be happy? Tra-la-la-la? Like that.”
“Ya could.” He heard the boy’s nails against his scalp. “Lookit me. I coulda hated everyone o’ ‘em. I decided t’be happy. Decided ta take what I could get. Make a life outer it.” A pause. “S’not like I’m gonna get another life. Gotta make this’n work.”
“It’s not that simple,” Paragon snapped.
“Could be,” Cliff insisted. “In’t no harder than decidin’t’be mad allus.”
The boy sauntered away slowly. His bare feet scuffed lightly on the deck. “But it’s a lot funner,” he called back over his shoulder.
p. 406: Clef to Paragon
”
”
Robin Hobb (The Mad Ship (Liveship Traders, #2))
“
So you have no remorse for your actions? No guilt for what you’ve done?” Drax’s mouth lolls half open; he wrinkles up his nose and sniffs. “Did you think I was going to murder you down in the cabin?” he asks. “Split open your skull like I did Brownlee. Is that what you were thinking?” “What else were you intending?” “Oh, I don’t intend too much. I’m a doer, not a thinker, me. I follow my inclination.” “You have no conscience then?” “One thing happens, then another comes after it. Why is the first thing more important than the second? Why is the second more important than the third? Tell me that.” “Because each action is separate and distinct; some are good and some are evil.” Drax sniffs again and scratches himself. “Them’s just words. If they hang me, they will hang me ’cause they can, and ’cause they wish to do it. They will be following their own inclination as I follow mine.” “You recognize no authority at all then, no right or wrong beyond yourself?” Drax shrugs and bares his upper teeth in something like a grin. “Men like you ask such questions to satisfy themselves,” he says. “To make them feel cleverer or cleaner than the rest. But they int.” “You truly believe we are all like you? How is that possible? Am I a murderer like you are? Is that what you accuse me of?” “I seen enough killing to suspect I int the only one to do it. I’m a man like any other, give or take.” Sumner shakes his head. “No,” he says. “That I won’t accept.” “You please yourself, as I please myself. You accept what suits you and you reject what don’t. The law is just a name they give to what a certain kind of men prefer.” Sumner
”
”
Ian McGuire (The North Water)
“
Q: What are in your eyes the major defects in the West? A: The West has come to regard the values of freedom, the yardstick of human rights, as something Western. Many of them [westerns] specially in Europe take the values and the institutions on freedom, the institutions on science, curiosity, the individual, i mean, the rule of law and they’ve come to take that all for granted that they are not aware of the threat against it and not aware of the fact that you have to sustain it day by day as with all man made things. I mean, a building for example, the roof will leak, the paint will fall and you have to repaint it, you have to maintain it all the time it seems that people have forgotten that and perhaps part of the reason is because the generation that is now enjoying all the freedoms in the West is not the generations that built it; these are generations that inherited and like companies, family companies, often you’ll see the first generation or the second generation are almost always more passionate about the brand and the family company and name and keeping it all int he family and then the third generation live, use, take the money and they are either overtaken by bigger companies, swallowed up or they go bankrupt and I think there is an analogy there in that the generations after the second world war living today in Europe, United States may be different but I’m here much too short to say anything about it, is that there are people who are so complacent, they’ve always been free, they just no longer know what it is that freedom costs and for me that would be making the big mistake and you can see it. The education system in Europe where history is no longer an obligatory subject, science is no longer an obligatory subject, school systems have become about, look at Holland, our country where they have allowed parents, in the name of freedom, to build their own schools that we now have schools founded on what the child wants so if the child wants to play all day long then that is an individual freedom of the child and so it’s up to the child to decide whether to do math or to clay and now in our country in Holland, in the name of freedom of education, the state pays for these schools and I was raving against muslim schools and i thought about this cuz i was like you know ok in muslin schools at least they learn to count.
”
”
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
“
Fifteen years ago, a business manager from the United States came to Plum Village to visit me. His conscience was troubled because he was the head of a firm that designed atomic bombs. I listened as he expressed his concerns. I knew if I advised him to quit his job, another person would only replace him. If he were to quit, he might help himself, but he would not help his company, society, or country. I urged him to remain the director of his firm, to bring mindfulness into his daily work, and to use his position to communicate his concerns and doubts about the production of atomic bombs.
In the Sutra on Happiness, the Buddha says it is great fortune to have an occupation that allows us to be happy, to help others, and to generate compassion and understanding in this world. Those in the helping professions have occupations that give them this wonderful opportunity. Yet many social workers, physicians, and therapists work in a way that does not cultivate their compassion, instead doing their job only to earn money. If the bomb designer practises and does his work with mindfulness, his job can still nourish his compassion and in some way allow him to help others. He can still influence his government and fellow citizens by bringing greater awareness to the situation. He can give the whole nation an opportunity to question the necessity of bomb production.
Many people who are wealthy, powerful, and important in business, politics, and entertainment are not happy. They are seeking empty things - wealth, fame, power, sex - and in the process they are destroying themselves and those around them. In Plum Village, we have organised retreats for businesspeople. We see that they have many problems and suffer just as others do, sometimes even more. We see that their wealth allows them to live in comfortable conditions, yet they still suffer a great deal.
Some businesspeople, even those who have persuaded themselves that their work is very important, feel empty in their occupation. They provide employment to many people in their factories, newspapers, insurance firms, and supermarket chains, yet their financial success is an empty happiness because it is not motivated by understanding or compassion. Caught up in their small world of profit and loss, they are unaware of the suffering and poverty in the world. When we are not int ouch with this larger reality, we will lack the compassion we need to nourish and guide us to happiness.
Once you begin to realise your interconnectedness with others, your interbeing, you begin to see how your actions affect you and all other life. You begin to question your way of living, to look with new eyes at the quality of your relationships and the way you work. You begin to see, 'I have to earn a living, yes, but I want to earn a living mindfully. I want to try to select a vocation not harmful to others and to the natural world, one that does not misuse resources.'
Entire companies can also adopt this way of thinking. Companies have the right to pursue economic growth, but not at the expense of other life. They should respect the life and integrity of people, animals, plants and minerals. Do not invest your time or money in companies that deprive others of their lives, that operate in a way that exploits people or animals, and destroys nature.
Businesspeople who visit Plum Village often find that getting in touch with the suffering of others and cultivating understanding brings them happiness. They practise like Anathapindika, a successful businessman who lived at the time of the Buddha, who with the practise of mindfulness throughout his life did everything he could to help the poor and sick people in his homeland.
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Thich Nhat Hanh (Creating True Peace: Ending Violence in Yourself, Your Family, Your Community, and the World)
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Kärlek kan man inte samla i lador. Finns det en del av Jesus i vartenda massfabricerat krucifix?
Alla offer som vi inte själva mördar eller spärrar in är inbillade offer.
Och F. sa: Jag bär mitt hjärta som en krona. Så försvann de, de spetälskevita metoperna och trygliferna och alla de andra snirkliga namnen som står för renhet; bleka tempel och förfallna altaren försvann under den scharlakansröda glasyren.
Det ursprungligaste i en människas natur är ofta det som är det mest desperata. Således påtvingas världen nya system av människor som helt enkelt inte står ut med att leva med det som är. Det enda som betyder något för en skapare är att hans system är unikt.
Mitt hat till smärtan är nåt så extra kolossalt fantastisk, mycket viktigare än ditt hat till smärtan, men min kropp är så mycket mera central, jag är smärtans Moskva, du är bara en väderstation på landet.
Var med mig, religiösa amuletter av alla slag, ni smo hänger i silverkedjor, ni som sitter fastmålade på underkläder med en säkerhetsnål, ni som gömmer er i svart brösthår, ni som löper som spårvagnshjul i springan mellan gamla lyckliga kvinnors bröst, ni som av misstag pressas in i skinnet när någon älskar, ni som fingras som mynt och på vilka man letar efter silverstäplar, ni som har kommit bort bland kläderna för kelande femtonåringar, ni som stoppas i mun medan man tänker, ni mycket dyrbara som bara spinkiga små flickebarn för lov att bära, ni som hänger i skärpkammare tillsammans med uppknutna slipsar, ni som blir kyssta för att bringa tur, ni som rycks från halsen i vredesmod, ni som är pressade, ni som är graverade, ni som blir lagda på spårvägsspår för att få en ny och lustig form, ni som sitter fast i innerklädseln i taxitak...
Vi ljuger alla dröm efter dröm i varandras armar. Morgon efter morgon finner vintern mig ensam bland slitna löv med fruset snor och frusna tårar i ögonbrynnen.
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Leonard Cohen (Sköna förlorare)
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Întreaga psihologie de până acum a rămas împotmolită în prejudecăţi şi temeri de ordin moral: ea nu s-a încumetat să pătrundă în adâncuri. A o concepe, precum o fac eu, în chip de morfologie şi genetică a voinţei de putere, -iată o idee care nu i-a trecut nimănui prin cap, în măsura în care ne este îngăduit să ghicim din toate cele câte s-au scris până acum şi a ceea ce a fost trecut sub tăcere. Puterea prejudecăţilor morale a impregnat profund sfera spiritualităţii pure, în aparenţă sfera cea mai rece şi mai lipsită de idei preconcepute - exercitând bineînţeles o acţiune vătămătoare, paralizantă, orbitoare, deformantă. O fizio-psihologie autentică întâmpină rezistenţe inconştiente în ini-ma cercetătorului, ea are de luptat cu „inima“: chiar şi o teorie despre interdependenta instinctelor „bune“ şi „rele“ pare un rafinament de imoralitate care provoacă suferinţa şi dezgustul unei conştiinţe încă viguroase şi îndrăzneţe -, şi, cu atât mai mult, o teorie despre derivarea tuturor instinctelor bune din cele rele. Însă, presupunând că s-ar găsi cineva care să ia afectele de ură, invidie, cupiditate, patima puterii drept afecte esenţiale ale vieţii, drept lucruri care trebuie să facă parte, în esenţă şi în principiu, din economia generală a vieţii, dacă vrem ca viaţa să fie intensificată -, acest om ar suferi din pricina unei asemenea orientări a judecăţilor sale ca de un rău de mare. şi aceasta nu este încă nici pe departe cea mai penibilă şi mai ciudată ipoteză din acest imens şi aproape nedesţelenit domeniu de cunoştinţe primejdioase: iar cel care vrea va găsi o sută de temeiuri pentru a se tine la distantă de ea - de va fi în stare! Iar dacă totuşi nava vi s-a abătut prin aceste meleaguri, ei bine, curaj! strângeţi zdravăn din dinţi! deschideţi-vă ochii! apucaţi timona cu nădejde! - vom depăşi de-a dreptul morala, cu riscul de a strivi, de a zdrobi poate restul propriei noastre moralităţi, cutezând să pornim pe acest drum - dar ce contăm noi! Niciodată navigatorilor şi aventurierilor temerari nu li s-a mai înfăţişat vreo lume de cunoştinţe, mai profundă: iar psihologului care consimte la o asemenea „jertfă“ - acesta nu este sacrifizio dell'inteletto, dimpotrivă! - i se va îngădui cel puţin să pretindă în schimb ca psihologia să fie recunoscută iarăşi ca regină a ştiinţelor, pe care celelalte ştiinţe au menirea s-o slujească şi s-o pregătească. Căci de acum îna¬inte psihologia este din nou calea ce duce spre problemele fundamentale.
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Friedrich Nietzsche (Beyond Good and Evil)
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Virginity being blown down man will quicklier be blown up; marry, in blowing him down again, with the breach yourselves made you lose your city. It is not politic in the commonwealth of nature to preserve virginity. Loss of virginity is rational increase, and there was never virgin got till virginity was first lost. That you were made of is mettel to make virgins. Virginity, by being once lost may be ten times found; by being ever kept it is ever lost. ‘Tis too cold a companion. Away with ‘t!
There’s little can be said in’t; ’tis against the rule of nature. To speak on the part of virginity, is to accuse your mothers; which is most infallible disobedience. He that hangs himself is a virgin; virginity murthers itself, and should be buried in highways out of all sanctified limit, as a desperate offendress against nature. Virginity breeds mites, much like a cheese; consumes itself to the very paring, and so dies with feeding his own stomach. Besides, virginity is peevish, proud, idle, made of self-love which is the most inhibited sin in the canon. Keep it not; you cannot choose but loose by’t. Out with ‘t! Within the year it will make itself two, which is a goodly increase, and the principal itself not much the worse. Away with ‘t! Tis a commodity that will lose the gloss with lying; the longer kept, the less worth: off with ’t, while ’tis vendible; answer the time of request. Virginity, like an old courtier, wears her cap out of fashion; richly suited, but unsuitable: just like the brooch and the toothpick, which wear not now. Your date is better in your pie and your porridge than in your cheek; and your virginity, your old virginity, is like one of our French withered pears: it looks ill, it eats drily. Marry, 'tis a withered pear; it was formerly better; marry, yet 'tis a withered pear! Will you anything with it?
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William Shakespeare