“
The sunset bled into the edges of the village. Smoke curled out of the cottage chimney like a crooked finger.
”
”
Sara Pascoe (Being a Witch, and Other Things I Didn't Ask For)
“
I believe if there's any kind of God it wouldn't be in any of us, not you or me but just this little space in between. If there's any kind of magic in this world it must be in the attempt of understanding someone sharing something. I know, it's almost impossible to succeed but who cares really? The answer must be in the attempt.
”
”
Julie Delpy (Before Sunrise & Before Sunset: Two Screenplays)
“
That was her magic—
she could still see
the sunset
even on those
darkest days.
”
”
Atticus Poetry (Love Her Wild)
“
You know how the stories go. Interesting things only happen to pretty girls; you will be home by sunset.
”
”
Leigh Bardugo (The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic (Grishaverse, #0.5, 2.5, 2.6))
“
Tea is just an excuse.
i am drinking this sunset, this evening.
and you.
”
”
Sanober Khan (A Thousand Flamingos)
“
I hated the mountains and the hills, the rivers and the rain. I hated the sunsets of whatever colour, I hated its beauty and its magic and the secret I would never know. I hated its indifference and the cruelty which was part of its loveliness. Above all I hated her. For she belonged to the magic and the loveliness. She had left me thirsty and all my life would be thirst and longing for what I had lost before I found it.
”
”
Jean Rhys (Wide Sargasso Sea)
“
Life is a wonderful, mesmerizing, magical, fun, silly thing. And humans are astounding. We all know we’re going to die, and yet we still live. We shout and curse and care when the full bin bag breaks, yet with every minute that passes we edge closer to the end. We marvel at a nectarine sunset over the M25 or the smell of a baby’s head or the efficiency of flat-pack furniture, even though we know that everyone we love will cease to exist one day. I don’t know how we do it.
”
”
Dolly Alderton (Everything I Know About Love: A Memoir)
“
I hope you feel better about yourself. I hope you feel alive. I hope that good things happen to you, and I hope that when the inevitable bad things happen you can handle them and learn a lesson and move on. I hope you know you're not alone and I hope you spend plenty of time with your family and/or friends and I hope you write more and get a seven-figure book deal. I hope next year no more celebrities die and I hope you get an iPhone if you want one. Or maybe a pony. I hope someone writes a song for you on Valentines Day that's a bit like Hey There Delilah, and I hope they have a good singing voice, or at least one better than mine. I hope that you accept yourself the way you are, and figure out that losing 20 pounds isn't going to magically make you love yourself. I hope you read a lot. I hope you don't have to almost die to figure out how valuable life is. I hope you find the perfect nail polish/digital camera/home/life partner. I hope you stop being jealous of others. I hope you feel good, about yourself and the people around you and the world. I hope you eat heaps of salt and vinegar chips because they're the best kind. I hope you accomplish all your hopes & dreams & aspirations and are blissfully happy & get married to Edward Cullen/George Clooney/Megan Fox/Angelina Jolie (delete whichever are inappropriate) & ride a pretty white horse into the sunset & I hope it's all sweet and wonderful because you deserve it because you did well this year in the face of sparkly vampires/great evil/low self-esteem.
”
”
Steph Bowe
“
She was at that crucial age when a women begins to regret having stayed faithful to a husband she never really loved, when the glowing sunset colors of her beauty offer her one last, urgent choice between maternal and feminine love. At such a moment a life that seemed to have chosen its course long ago is questioned once again, for the last time the magic compass needle of the will hovers between final resignation and the hope of erotic experience.
”
”
Stefan Zweig (The Burning Secret and other stories)
“
She was a gypsy, as soon as you unravelled the many layers to her wild spirit she was on her next quest to discover her magic. She was relentless like that, the woman didn't need no body but an open road, a pen and a couple of sunsets.
”
”
Nikki Rowe
“
If you don't believe in any kind of magic, or mystery, basically, (you're) as good as dead
”
”
Before Sunset (supposedly Albert Einstein)
“
They captured in their ramble all the mysteries and magics of a March evening. Very still and mild it was, wrapped in a great, white, brooding silence -- a silence which was yet threaded through with many little silvery sounds which you could hear if you hearkened as much with your soul as your ears. The girls wandered down a long pineland aisle that seemed to lead right out into the heart of a deep-red, overflowing winter sunset.
”
”
L.M. Montgomery
“
The sun set, which is everyday magic...
”
”
Terry Pratchett
“
It's that time between day and night when the sky looks like it's on fire and mosquitoes are on the hunt.
”
”
Angie Thomas (The Hate U Give (The Hate U Give, #1))
“
Sunset, springtime, the blue of the sea, the stars in the sky, all the things that entrance us exert their magic only in the orbit if woman.
”
”
Yasmina Khadra (Ce que le jour doit à la nuit)
“
... he was sunset against the mountains, strong, vibrant, dangerous, and yet somehow sheltering, protective. And married.
Picnic, meet rain.
”
”
Devon Monk (Magic in the Shadows (Allie Beckstrom, #3))
“
The sun was still out, wouldn’t even start to set for an hour, but the early evening still had that “magic hour” feeling. The air was warm and breezy. The houses looked sparkling with windows reflecting the still bright sun.
”
”
Victoria Kahler (Luisa Across the Bay)
“
A second in Caraval seemed richer than an ordinary second, like that moment on the cusp of sunset, when all the colors of the sky coalesce into magic.
”
”
Stephanie Garber (Caraval (Caraval, #1))
“
the night may fall,
but i will always remain.
- i'm my own sunset.
the dawn may break,
but i will always reign.
- i'm my own sunrise.
”
”
Amanda Lovelace (The Mermaid's Voice Returns in This One (Women Are Some Kind of Magic, #3))
“
The magic ground against my mind and I heard the same word whispered over and over in my head.
“Z’emir-amit. Z’emir-amit. Z’emir-amit.”
Oh my God. I knew that name. I read about her. I studied her legends, but I never thought I would come across anything of hers because she had been dead for thousands of years. Dead and buried in distant Iraq, somewhere on the east bank of the Tigris River. That name belonged to the bones in front of me. I could feel it. I knew this magic.
I was looking at the corpse of my grandmother.
She wanted me to say her name. She wanted to know that I understood.
I opened my mouth and said it out loud. “Semiramis.”
Her magic drenched me, not the blow of a hammer, but a cascade of power, pouring onto me as if I stood under a waterfall.
Z’emir-amit. The Branch Bearer. The Shield of Assyria. The Great Queen Semiramis. A line from Sarchedon floated up from my memory. When she turns her eyes on you, it is like the golden lustre of noon-day; and her smile is brighter and more glorious than sunset in the desert… To look on her face unveiled is to be the Great Queen’s slave for ever more.
”
”
Ilona Andrews (Magic Breaks (Kate Daniels, #7))
“
while the long history of religious oppression and hypocrisy is profoundly sobering, the earnest seeker must look beyond the behavior of flawed humans in order to find the truth. Would you condemn an oak tree because its timbers had been used to build battering rams? Would you blame the air for allowing lies to be transmitted through it? Would you judge Mozart’s The Magic Flute on the basis of a poorly rehearsed performance by fifth-graders? If you had never seen a real sunset over the Pacific, would you allow a tourist brochure as a substitute? Would you evaluate the power of romantic love solely in the light of an abusive marriage next door? No. A real evaluation of the truth of faith depends upon looking at the clean, pure water, not at the rusty containers.
”
”
Francis S. Collins (The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief)
“
A couple of hours after Sunset Michael Robartes returned and told me that I would have to learn the steps of an exceedingly antique dance, because before my initiation could be perfected I had to join three times in a magical dance, for rhythm was the wheel of Eternity, on which alone the transient and accidental could be broken, and the spirit set free.
”
”
W.B. Yeats (Rosa Alchemica)
“
The was her magic, she could still see the sunset even on those darkest days.
”
”
Atticus Poetry
“
When the sun goes down, melting away his caresses into the sky which consonants with the ocean, lively colors are scattered through the deep pale depth during some short sensuous instants. Later, as by art of magic, light is consumed into the infinite horizon giving space to the poked voidness and its full-cristal-covered vastness. Then, to mystify the night, a marvelous and alluring sentinel rests next to us through the vivid night, just until the next prismatic fest arrives with its celebrating aperture.
”
”
Jose A. Arvide
“
Sometimes the sun sets so beautifully that one wants neither night nor day anymore, but only that magical sunset twilight moment!
”
”
Mehmet Murat ildan
“
There’s more to this world than science. There’s more than just the things you see, touch, and feel. There’s not much magic left in the world, and if some people had their way, it would all be gone. But if you open your mind, you can still find bits of it. Every time you see a rainbow, every time you watch the sunset, and every time you remember a dream – they’re all little glimpses into what’s beyond our world.
”
”
Kevin A. Kuhn
“
No one can possess a sunset like the one we saw that evening. Just as no one can possess an afternoon of rain beating against the window, or serenity of a sleeping child, or the magical moment when the waves break on the rocks. No one can possess the beautiful things in this Earth, but we can know them and love them.
”
”
Paulo Coelho
“
And would it have been worth it, after all,
Would it have been worth while,
After the sunsets and the dooryards and the sprinkled streets,
After the novels, after the teacups, after the skirts that trail along the floor—
And this, and so much more?—
It is impossible to say just what I mean!
But as if a magic lantern threw the nerves in patterns on a screen:
Would it have been worth while
If one, settling a pillow or throwing off a shawl,
And turning toward the window, should say:
“That is not it at all,
That is not what I meant, at all.
”
”
T.S. Eliot
“
The trick is to ride the wave,
Fast, wide-open and
in deep Now-magic.
Free, burning fear for fuel
Generous, knowing there is always more where that came from.
Cresting, spray of liquid jewels hanging, shining in the sun and wind.
Flying down the wave in graceful slices.
Rolling, tumbling under, over
Breathless falling, floating into the deep dark beneath.
Rising, face breaks the surface
Laughing
Kneeling, standing
Riding again.
Sunset waits behind the horizon
But daylight begs us to swim
Out beyond
Where our feet can’t touch bottom.
Into the deep wild
Where the next wave can
sweep us higher,
Show us what else is possible
In this marvelous place.
”
”
Jacob Nordby
“
I prefer sunsets over sunrises, but only because I love to watch the constellations begin to burn. My favorite season is autumn, because my mum and I both believed that’s the only time when magic can be tasted in the air.
”
”
Rebecca Ross (Divine Rivals (Letters of Enchantment, #1))
“
It may be a tough world, but its a magical world;
Where a mere sunset will make you smile....
Amidst all the hardships,
When the life you want to live seems a strange place,
Be the first to chart this new territory;
And leave a clear path for others to follow,
They will follow.........
You do not have to fell the pressure to lead....
You merely followed the horizon where the sun set,
which became a beautiful sunrise...
Your Sunrise.....
”
”
Michelle Geaney
“
Yorkshire's autumn was as great a gift as Yorkshire's summer. I loved watching the rusting of the leaves while the dales mellowed to shades of ochre, and rose hips and blackberries grew deliciously fat on their branches. The morning mists were mystical and magical to me, and the rose-glow of the evening sun lent the sky a hypnotic light that matched any Cape Town sunset.
”
”
Hazel Gaynor (The Cottingley Secret)
“
It was raining when Amarelle Parathis went out just after sunset to find a drink, and there was strange magic in the rain. It came down in pale lavenders and coppers and reds, soft lines like liquid dusk that turned luminescent mist on the warm pavement. The air itself felt like champagne bubbles breaking against the skin. Over the dark shapes of distant rooftops, blue-white lightning blazed, and stuttering thunder chased it.
”
”
Scott Lynch (Rogues)
“
I know that the best time to see them is in that perfect hour before sunset when the sun sinks low on the horizon like a ripe peach and sends shafts of gold bursting through the trees. The "in between," I call it. No longer day, not yet night; some other place and time when magic hangs in the air and the light plays tricks on the eye. You might easily miss the flash of violet and emerald, but I- according to my teacher, Mrs. Hogan- am "a curiously observant child." I see their misty forms among the flowers and leaves. I know my patience will be rewarded if I watch and listen, if I believe.
”
”
Hazel Gaynor (The Cottingley Secret)
“
You know how the stories go. Interesting things only happened to pretty girls; he will be home by sunset.
”
”
Leigh Bardugo (The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic (Grishaverse, #0.5, 2.5, 2.6))
“
Despite their illusive nature, twilight never fails to provide a magical quality to the day—a transitional space between day and night, light and dark, head and heart...
”
”
Felisa Tan (In Search for Meaning)
“
Here was a small corner of the Greek archipelago; sky-blue, caressing waves, islands and rocks, a flowering strip of coastline, a magical panorama in the distance, an inviting sunset — you can’t describe it in words. This is what the peoples of Europe remembered as their cradle; here unfolded the first scenes of mythology, here was their earthly paradise. Here lived beautiful people! They got up and went to sleep happy and innocent; the groves were filled with their joyous songs, their great excess of untapped energies went into love and artless joy. The sun bathed these islands and the sea in its rays, rejoicing in its beautiful children.
”
”
Fyodor Dostoevsky (Demons)
“
In The Sunset Sky
The sunset sky dazzling with the golden hues,
Taking bow in brilliant sparkle of experience
Is it not a climax, of the story so far, that was today?
Or is it building anticipation of the night yet to come.
Watch the days go,
some proud of their accomplishments
Some leaving sighs of disappointments, Leaving all in awe of its Amaranthine twists and turns
And the fortunate get to see the moon trying to steal the show from setting sun,
Oh she is such a show off, isn't she, basking in reflected glory
Its magical, the sunset sky,Puzzling, sometimes just like a riddle,
Leaving the nature stunned and amazed For it has been filling the canvas whole day with colours
And now the sunset threatens to hide them all
And in dark all the colours will be same
A cue for the wise.
Sunset sky has so much to offer,
is she not a fine exampleof how uncertain a life can be
Often reminding no matter what you planned, there will besome unexpected returns
For End has its own brain, its own script
Charting its own course
So why just the beginning,every moment of the life should be grand,
meted with equal passion and fervor
She has been so clever; the sunset sky
Leaving Twinkling cryptic messages for the night sky
For even the dark has sparkle and hope if you keep your head up,
A constant reminder that exuberance is an attitude of deep,rich, warm hearts
I want my sunset sky to be grand, magical, and full of stories of my life that has been
And its memories to linger on in this world, in the tomorrow and a few more years to come
”
”
Soma Mukherjee
“
If you think that I did nothing today, just watched the sunset, you are wrong because there is a magic in the sunset that touches the depths of your soul, which takes you away from your simple problems and takes you to a deeper place!
”
”
Mehmet Murat ildan
“
In Chandigarh if there is something which cannot be missed that is experiencing sunset at sukhna lake. Thousands of people around and still you can meet your inner soul. This Orange magic bless you with more energy, postivity, coherent vision and lots of support.
”
”
Anjnay Sharma
“
Sunset is the only therapy I need. There is something magical about it, it makes you feel things. And with every new sunset that feeling is always different. And the beutiful thing is that no matter what you feel, as long as you feel, you are living and that is all that matters.
”
”
Tadas Petrovas
“
How is it the seasons change? Do they change so slowly so creepingly because we so rarely break away from whatever it was that we were dreaming to notice? What the season brings us to suffer (because seasons, no matter how lovely, will bring us to suffer) it brings when we are not looking. I know the look of a cracked landscape, winter in black and white, flat and finite with a sunset on the horizon like a red heartbeat suffering there. It will take me longer each morning now to go out and face it, the leaves shivering then falling about as if to remind that somehow despite leavings, there is some magic, some beauty there. I don’t want it: the mountain view, the shimmer of summer rain, a troutfilled creek. How is it that I came to be here this way with the wind a suggestion that it was, indubitably was, autumn (already and again)?
”
”
Jenny Boully (The Book of Beginnings and Endings)
“
No, no, no! The best way to win a boy's heart is to brew a love potion out of rainbows and sunsets that make two lovers sprout wings and fly to a magical castle in the sky, where they get married and eat clouds with spoons, and use stars as ice cubes in their moonlight punch, forever and ever and ever!
”
”
Ikki
“
This was why love was so dangerous. Love turned the world into a garden, so beguiling it was easy to forget that rose petals sails appeared charmed. They blazed red in the day and silver at night, like a magician’s cloak, hinting at mysteries concealed beneath, which Tella planned to uncover that night.
Drunken laughter floated above her as Tella delved deeper into the ship’s underbelly in search of Nigel the Fortune-teller. Her first evening on the vessel she’d made the mistake of sleeping, not realizing until the following day that Legend’s performers had switched their waking hours to prepare for the next Caraval. They slumbered in the day and woke after sunset.
All Tella had learned her first day aboard La Esmeralda was that Nigel was on the ship, but she had yet to actually see him. The creaking halls beneath decks were like the bridges of Caraval, leading different places at different hours and making it difficult to know who stayed in which room. Tella wondered if Legend had designed it that way, or if it was just the unpredictable nature of magic.
She imagined Legend in his top hat, laughing at the question and at the idea that magic had more control than he did. For many, Legend was the definition of magic.
When she had first arrived on Isla de los Sueños, Tella suspected everyone could be Legend. Julian had so many secrets that she’d questioned if Legend’s identity was one of them, up until he’d briefly died. Caspar, with his sparkling eyes and rich laugh, had played the role of Legend in the last game, and at times he’d been so convincing Tella wondered if he was actually acting. At first sight, Dante, who was almost too beautiful to be real, looked like the Legend she’d always imagined. Tella could picture Dante’s wide shoulders filling out a black tailcoat while a velvet top hat shadowed his head. But the more Tella thought about Legend, the more she wondered if he even ever wore a top hat. If maybe the symbol was another thing to throw people off. Perhaps Legend was more magic than man and Tella had never met him in the flesh at all.
The boat rocked and an actual laugh pierced the quiet.
Tella froze.
The laughter ceased but the air in the thin corridor shifted. What had smelled of salt and wood and damp turned thick and velvet-sweet. The scent of roses.
Tella’s skin prickled; gooseflesh rose on her bare arms.
At her feet a puddle of petals formed a seductive trail of red.
Tella might not have known Legend’s true name, but she knew he favored red and roses and games.
Was this his way of toying with her? Did he know what she was up to?
The bumps on her arms crawled up to her neck and into her scalp as her newest pair of slippers crushed the tender petals. If Legend knew what she was after, Tella couldn’t imagine he would guide her in the correct direction, and yet the trail of petals was too tempting to avoid. They led to a door that glowed copper around the edges.
She turned the knob.
And her world transformed into a garden, a paradise made of blossoming flowers and bewitching romance. The walls were formed of moonlight. The ceiling was made of roses that dripped down toward the table in the center of the room, covered with plates of cakes and candlelight and sparkling honey wine.
But none of it was for Tella.
It was all for Scarlett. Tella had stumbled into her sister’s love story and it was so romantic it was painful to watch.
Scarlett stood across the chamber. Her full ruby gown bloomed brighter than any flowers, and her glowing skin rivaled the moon as she gazed up at Julian.
They touched nothing except each other. While Scarlett pressed her lips to Julian’s, his arms wrapped around her as if he’d found the one thing he never wanted to let go of.
This was why love was so dangerous. Love turned the world into a garden, so beguiling it was easy to forget that rose petals were as ephemeral as feelings, eventually they would wilt and die, leaving nothing but the thorns.
”
”
Stephanie Garber (Legendary (Caraval, #2))
“
Let me wake up next to you,
A cup of coffee together will do.
Let’s go out somewhere far,
Don’t let anyone know till we’re back.
Grab your bike keys & my hand,
Let’s wander holding hand in hand.
To our secret spot up the hill we go,
And we see the sunset & more.
Under a magical sky filled with stars,
Kiss me good night on my eyes.
And we find out you don't have to be happy at all...
Cause darling, I'm beside you holding your hand
”
”
Deepa Borkar
“
The road is long in every direction. Whether you follow someone else's footsteps or blaze your own trail, the road is still long. Walk the one that is howling for you. Go now. It is never too late. Even if you must turn around and go back the way you came, you cannot go backwards. The path will not look the same walking north as it did walking south. You will not be the same person facing the sunset as you were turning your back to it. Go now. Find your magic. Live. Rise.
”
”
Vironika Tugaleva
“
And now, if the people of the lower world chanced to be looking upward out of the turmoil of their petty perplexities, they probably mistook the castle in the air for a heap of sunset clouds, to which the magic of light and shade had imparted the aspect of a fantastically constructed mansion. To such beholders it was unreal, because they lacked the imaginative faith. Had they been worthy to pass within its portal, they would have recognized the truth, that the dominions which the spirit conquers for itself among unrealities become a thousand times more real than the earth whereon they stamp their feet, saying, “This is solid and substantial; this may be called a fact.
”
”
Nathaniel Hawthorne (Mosses from an Old Manse)
“
Helen was bewildered to find herself surrounded by air as warm as the breath of summer. Slowly she walked into a large gallery, constructed of thousands of flashing, glittering glass panes in a network of wrought-iron ribs.
It was a glasshouse, she realized in bewilderment. On a rooftop. The ethereal construction, as pretty as a wedding cake, had been built on a sturdy brickwork base, with iron pillars and girders welded to vertical struts and diagonal tiers.
"This is for my orchids," she said faintly.
Rhys came up behind her, his hands settling at her waist. He nuzzled gently at her ear. "I told you I'd find a place for them."
A glass palace in the sky. It was magical, an inspired stroke of romantic imagination, and he had built it for her. Dazzled, she took in the view of London at sunset, a red glow westering across the leaden sky. The clouds were torn in places, gold light spilling through the fire-colored fleece.
”
”
Lisa Kleypas (Marrying Winterborne (The Ravenels, #2))
“
When Sam and I were living in Australia, one winter weekend we rented a cottage in the countryside. We toured local wineries by day and at sunset we wrapped ourselves up in blankets on the porch overlooking the valley below, tucking into our bounty of wine and local cheese. I can’t remember who initiated it (OK, fine, probably me), but we decided that during this magic hour while day turned to night we could ask each other anything.
This moment in our relationship changed everything. I got to ask all my questions and so did Sam. We also had to answer them. I think for both of us it’s the night we tipped over from infatuation to falling in love. Even now, the phrase ‘wine and cheese hour’ is shorthand for this safe space, when we need to sit down and reconnect. This is so bougie and painful to admit, especially because I don’t even like wine and this is now far more likely to be ‘coffee and Jaffa cake hour’. (Vodka and Pringles works, too.)
”
”
Jessica Pan (Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come: An Introvert's Year of Living Dangerously)
“
So, Randolph Carter, in the name of the Other Gods I spare you and charge you to serve my will. I charge you to seek that sunset city which is yours, and to send thence the drowsy truant gods for whom the dream-world waits. Not hard to find is that roseal fever of the gods, that fanfare of supernal trumpets and clash of immortal cymbals, that mystery whose place and meaning have haunted you through the halls of waking and the gulfs of dreaming, and tormented you with hints of vanished memory and the pain of lost things awesome and momentous. Not hard to find is that symbol and relic of your days of wonder, for truly, it is but the stable and eternal gem wherein all that wonder sparkles crystallised to light your evening path. Behold! It is not over unknown seas but back over well-known years that your quest must go; back to the bright strange things of infancy and the quick sun-drenched glimpses of magic that old scenes brought to wide young eyes.
”
”
H.P. Lovecraft
“
When was it that first I heard of the grass harp? Long before the autumn we lived in the China tree; an earlier autumn, then; and of course it was Dolly who told me, no one else would have known to call it that, a grass harp. . .
If on leaving town you take the church road you soon will pass a glaring hill of bonewhite slabs and brown burnt flowers: this is the Baptist cemetery. . . below the hill grows a field of high Indian grass that changes color with the seasons: go to see it in the fall, late September, when it has gone red as sunset, when scarlet shadows light firelight breeze over it and the autumn winds strum on its dry leaves sighing human music, a harp of voices. . .
It must have been on one of those September days when we were there in the woods gathering roots that Dolly said: Do you hear? that is the grass harp, always telling a story -- it knows the stories of all the people on the hill, of all the people who ever lived, and when we are dead it will tell ours, too.
”
”
Truman Capote (The Grass Harp, Including A Tree of Night and Other Stories)
“
The radiant sun draws visitors from the cold climes of Scandinavia, Britain, and Germany, and lively tavernas and discotheques entice vacationers from Asia and the Americas. People come from all over the world to marvel at the breathtaking historical depth and breadth that greets the visitor at every turn. This very mix of nationalities is just the latest of the many waves that have washed upon the Greek Isles for millennia. As they have since ancient, seafaring times, the hospitable inhabitants of the Greek Isles welcome these strangers who come for the beaches and the antiquities--and leave with the gift of the joy of living.
As sunset gives way to the blanket of night, the modest lights of a thousand tiny villages twinkle and flicker as if mirroring the star-studded sky. Against the darkness, the columns and stones of ancient temples and theaters glow with a secret whiteness. Sipping a sweet and aromatic coffee, as a mandolin player strums an ancient melody and waves lap up against fishing boats moored for the night, it is easy to understand why the ancients believed these magical islands to be the birthplace of the gods.
”
”
Laura Brooks (Greek Isles (Timeless Places))
“
She Is Remarkable
Salute to the woman who knows who she is
And why she is who she is
A powerful being
Once thrown into the deep end of the ocean
But swam her way back to shore
She never stops moving forward
Nothing can ever pull her backwards
Such a brave warrior
Shout out to the superwoman
Determined to change the status quo
Because she feels the need to do so
Just like an eagle
She soars higher and higher
As the wind blows stronger
She does not let anything deter her
From reaching another level in life
Thumbs up to an amazing woman
A great force to be reckoned with
That committed Mother on the street
Who trades from sunrise to sunset
Trying to make ends meet
Oh, she has a heart so big
Being mindful that come snow or sunshine
She has mouths to feed
I revere this gifted woman
Who uses her creativity
To make an impact in society
Despite the uniqueness of her talent
She remains a trendsetter
It could be the potter in whose hands clay becomes magic
The miner who touches gold, before it even gets sold to the markets
Or the strategist who sits in high-level meetings, making sure organisations do not collapse
A special mention to the special woman
Who chooses not to give up
She understands that others look up to her
The smart lady out there, with a clear vision
She makes things happen for her family, community, and the world at large
She deserves a badge of honour
Because she is remarkable!
”
”
Gift Gugu Mona (From My Mother's Classroom: A Badge of Honour for a Remarkable Woman)
“
When Egil was twelve years old, he was grown so big that there were but few men howso large and strong that he could not overcome in games. In his twelfth winter he was often at games. Thord Grani's son was then twenty years old; he was very strong. As the winter wore on, if often chanced that the two, Egil and Thord, were matched against Skallagrim. And once in the winter it so befell that there was ball-play at Borg, southwards in Sandvik. Thord and Egil were set against Skallagrim in the game; and he became weary before them, so that they had the best of it. But in the evening after sunset it began to go worse with Egil and his partner. Skallagrim then became so strong and he caught up Thord and dashed him down so violently that he was all bruised and died on the spot. Then he seized Egil.
Now there was a handmaid of Skallagrim's named Thorgerdr Brak, who had nursed Egil when a child; she was a big woman, strong as a man, and of magic cunning. Said Brak:
'Dost thou turn they shape-strength, Skallagrim, against thy son?'
Whereat Skallagrim let Egil loose, but clutched at her. She broke away and took to her heels with Skallagrim after her. So went they to the utmost point of Digra-ness. Then she leapt out from the rock into the water. Skallagrim hurled after her a great stone, which struck her between the shoulders, and neither ever came up again. The water there is now called Brakar-sound.
But afterwards, in the evening, when they came home to Borg, Egil was very angry. Skallagrim and everybody else were set at table, but Egil had not yet come to his place. He went into the fire-hall, and up to the man who there had the overseeing of work and the management of moneys for Skallagrim, and was most dear to him. Egil dealt him his deathblow, then went to his seat. Skallagrim spoke not a word about it then, and thenceforward the matter was kept quiet. But father and son exchanged no word good or bad, and so that winter passed.
”
”
Egill Skallagrímsson (Egil's Saga)
“
I wondered why nobody realized what a crazy experience we all were having. I'd be lying in bed, or walking down a hallway in college, and the realization that I was alive would startle me, as though it had come up from behind and slammed two books together. I suddenly realized I was breathing air and stuck to the planet and temporary. And that realization felt as though I had come from some other existence and was experiencing this magical life for the first time.
If you think about it, we get robbed of the mystery of being alive. It's a fairly amazing thing, you know. Even if you believe life is an accident, that we are all here by accident, it's still an amazing thing. It might even be a more amazing thing if we are really here by accident. What are the chances, honestly? Still, I think we get robbed of the glory of it, because we don't remember how we got here. When you get born, you wake up slowly to everything. Your brain doesn't stop growing until you turn 26, you know. So from birth to 26, God is slowly turning on the lights, and you are groggy and pointing at things and saying ‘circle’ and ‘blue’ and ‘car,’ and then ‘sex’ and ‘job’ and ‘healthcare.’ The experience is so slow, you can easily come to believe life isn't that big a deal, that life isn't staggering. What I'm saying is, I think life IS staggering, and we are just too used to it. We are all of us like spoiled children, no longer impressed with the gifts we are being given. It’s just another sunset, just another rainstorm moving over the mountains, just another child being born, just another funeral.
When I was writing myself into a movie, I felt the way God feels as he writes the world, sitting over the planets, placing tiny people in tiny wombs. If I have a hope, it’s that God sat over the dark nothing and wrote you and me specifically into the story. And He put us in with the sunsets and the rainstorms as though to say, ‘Enjoy your place in My story. The very beauty of it means it’s not about you, and in time, that will give you comfort.
”
”
Donald Miller (A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life)
“
Boy Lost
Picture a sunset in a small port town by the sea. Two teenaged boys sitting on the docks watching the ships as they fly across the water. One reaches out and takes the other’s hand. In this brush of skin for skin, a thousand unspoken promises erupt between them, and both are determined to keep them. This is what youth is. The sheer belief that you will be able to keep every promise you made to someone else. That you will be able to love someone into a forever when you do not even understand what forever means.
An evening spent in the headiness of love, they go back to their respective homes. One boy helps his mother with cooking and cleaning and looking after his little sister. His father is a good man, a sailor who brings home with him meagre wages, but a heart full of love and a quicksilver tongue that tells stories of faraway lands to enthral them all. But this boy, despite his blessings, is not happy. He may have been blessed with a loving family, but that faraway look is made of unrest and wanderlust, something about him says fae, changeling, wearing the skin of a boy who was always destined to fly, to leave.
The other boy returns home to a father who drinks and a mother who works so hard that she is never there. He is the unwanted creature in this home, a beating waiting for him at every corner. His father’s temper is a beast so powerful that a boy made of paper bones barely held together cannot fight him. He hides in his room. He lives for a boy at sunset, hope made into a human being.
Now picture this. This boy of paper bones alone at the docks the next sunset. And this boy alone on the docks again on a rainy day. And this boy alone on the docks every day after, waiting for someone who promised him forevers he never intended to keep. This boy becoming a man, a heart wounded so young in youth that it never quite healed right. Imagine him becoming a sailor, searching land after land for a boy he once loved, thinking he was hurt, or stolen, just needing to know what happened to him.
Now see him finally finding out that the boy he loved in his boyhood ran away to a magical land where he never grew up. That without a second glance, he just forgot every promise of forever. Imagine his rage, that ancient pain turning to a terrible anger and escaping from the forgotten attic of his mangled heart. Think of what happens when immense love turns into immense hate. An anger so intense it cannot be controlled. What he would give up to avenge the boy he once was, paper-boned, standing on the docks, broken without a single person to love him, simply all alone. A hand is a small price to pay for a magical ship that will take him to Neverland, a place that lives on a star. Becoming a villain called Captain Hook is a small exchange to show Peter Pan that you cannot throw away love and think you will get away unscarred.
”
”
Nikita Gill (Fierce Fairytales: Poems and Stories to Stir Your Soul)
“
I been sleepin for 40 days and
I know Im sleeping cuz this dream’s too amazin
She got gold doorknobs where her eyes used to be
One turn and I learned what it really means to see
Ah – It’s the magical mystery kind
Ah – must be a lie
Bye bye to the too good to be true kind of love
Oh – I could die
Oh now I can die
I been sleepin for 60- days and
Nobody better pinch me
Bitch I swear I’ll go crazy
She got jumper cable lips
She got sunset on her breath now
I inhaled just a little bit
Now I got no fear of death now
”
”
Edward Sharpe Mag Zeroes
“
I been sleepin for 40 days and
I know Im sleeping cuz this dream’s too amazin
She got gold doorknobs where her eyes used to be
One turn and I learned what it really means to see
[Chorus]
Ah – It’s the magical mystery kind
Ah – must be a lie
Bye bye to the too good to be true kind of love
Oh – I could die
Oh now I can die
I been sleepin for 60- days and
Nobody better pinch me
Bitch I swear I’ll go crazy
She got jumper cable lips
She got sunset on her breath now
I inhaled just a little bit
Now I got no fear of death now
”
”
Edward Sharpe Mag Zeroes
“
The sun starts to sink lower over the ocean, and Zach somehow magics up a fire from driftwood and kindling.
And then he brings out the marshmallows.
Not a bag of mass-produced, uniform white cylinders of sugar. But two not-quite-square, hand-made, artisanal marshmallows.
I look up at him. “Are you kidding me right now?”
The right side of his mouth kicks up in a smirk that says I gave him exactly the reaction he was looking for. “Nope,” he says. “I asked the baker and she made these special for us. After all, I did promise you.”
He grabs a forked stick and roasts them for us. When they’re perfectly golden brown and sagging off the stick, he slides it onto a graham cracker, and adds a square of chocolate.
I put the entire thing in my mouth.
“Ohmigod!” I murmur. “This is amazing!”
“Transcendent?” he teases.
“Absolutely.” I agree, licking some of the sugar off my fingers.
He grabs my wrist and the next thing I know, he’s licking the sugar off my fingers.
Oh God, and now I’m thinking of last night and what else he licked. As I watch, his eyes get intense; he’s thinking the same.
“We can’t have sex on the beach,” I say breathlessly. “Too sandy.”
“You have a one-track mind, don’t you?” he teases. “I only brought you here for the sunset.”
Aaaand now I feel like an idiot. “Right,” I cough, blushing. “Well, thank you.”
“But …” He adds, his mouth curving into that sexy smile that kills me. “That doesn’t mean we can’t … kiss.” His hand comes up to push a stray lock of hair behind my ear.
I nod because resistance is futile. The best I can do is make light of it so he can’t see the emotion coursing through me. “I’m pretty sure it’s the law that when you drink wine and eat artisanal marshmallows on the beach, you have to kiss.” I wave vaguely toward where we left the car. “I saw it on the sign by the parking lot.”
“Well, if it’s a law,” he grins. A second later, his lips find mine.
He tastes like wine and sugar, and pure Zach. I sigh in pleasure. This picnic, the marshmallows—everything—just might be the most romantic thing anyone’s ever done for me.
But that perfect sunset? We totally miss it.
After all, there are better things to do.
”
”
Lila Monroe (How to Choose a Guy in 10 Days (Chick Flick Club, #1))
“
His words explained, but they did not convince. Was this sudden-bursting glory only the sun rising behind storm clouds? She could see the clouds moving while they were being colored. The universal gray surrendered under some magic paint brush. The rifts widened, and the gloom of the pale-gray world seemed to vanish. Beyond the billowy, rolling, creamy edges of clouds, white and pink, shone the soft exquisite fresh blue sky. And a blaze of fire, a burst of molten gold, sheered up from behind the rim of cloud and suddenly poured a sea of sunlight from east to west. It trans-figured the round foothills. They seemed bathed in ethereal light, and the silver mists that overhung them faded while Carley gazed, and a rosy flush crowned the symmetrical domes. Southward along the horizon line, down-dropping veils of rain, just touched with the sunrise tint, streamed in drifting slow movement from cloud to earth. To the north the range of foothills lifted toward the majestic dome of Sunset Peak, a volcanic upheaval of red and purple cinders, bare as rock, round as the lower hills, and wonderful in its color. Full in the blaze of the rising sun it flaunted an unchangeable front. Carley understood now what had been told her about this peak. Volcanic fires had thrown up a colossal mound of cinders burned forever to the hues of the setting sun. In every light and shade of day it held true to its name. Farther north rose the bold bulk of the San Francisco Peaks, that, half lost in the clouds, still dominated the desert scene. Then as Carley gazed the rifts began to close. Another transformation began, the reverse of what she watched. The golden radiance of sunrise vanished, and under a gray, lowering) coalescing pall of cloud the round hills returned to their bleak somberness, and the green desert took again its cold sheen.
”
”
Zane Grey (The Call Of The Canyon)
“
5. not-so-magic hour
The most flattering light for vacation photos is the golden glow just before sunset or right after sunrise, and the most unflattering is, undoubtedly, the full-strength glaring sun. Make the best of a bright situation by seeking the softer light created by the shade of a beach umbrella, cabana, lifeguard tower, or tall lifeguard. If there's no shade in sight and you're truly committed, ask your subject to face their own shadow, and angle a boogie board to bounce light on their face. Or just ask everyone to close their eyes and look down, then, on the count of three, look up and say "Pina colada." Smiles, guaranteed.
”
”
Marnie Hanel (Summer: A Cookbook: Inspired Recipes for Lazy Days and Magical Nights)
“
Despite mournful envy and
Dejected wrath,
We bask under blue skies,
Bewitching stars,
And mystical moons,
Loving rumbles of thunder,
Glistening raindrops,
And a hazy peaceful sunrise.
In the face of
Sorrowful greed,
We delight in magnificent mountains,
Bountiful oceans,
Turquoise lagoons,
Beautiful blossoms,
And the green, green grass
Of springtime.
Through raging anger,
Aching sadness,
We treasure radiant sunsets,
Seek marble courtyards,
Ancient architecture,
And splendid arched bridges.
We sing the praises of
Breathtaking falls.
Even crushed
And bewildered,
We are captivated by
Exquisite winged creatures,
Tropical forests,
And the critters we nurture.
We embrace the power in our divinity
And the superb magic of everything.
With every threat to the world
We belong to
And embrace,
We revel in books and dreams.
We’re mesmerized by
Otherworldly visions
And plentiful hues.
We cherish
The light in ever-curious
Truth seekers,
And are ever grateful
For smiles,
Rapturous affection,
Laughter,
And love.
”
”
D.K. Sanz/Kyrian Lyndon
“
DINOSAURS BEFORE DARK #2: THE KNIGHT AT DAWN #3: MUMMIES IN THE MORNING #4: PIRATES PAST NOON #5: NIGHT OF THE NINJAS #6: AFTERNOON ON THE AMAZON #7: SUNSET OF THE SABERTOOTH #8: MIDNIGHT ON THE MOON #9: DOLPHINS AT DAYBREAK #10: GHOST TOWN AT SUNDOWN #11: LIONS AT LUNCHTIME #12: POLAR BEARS PAST BEDTIME #13: VACATION UNDER THE VOLCANO #14: DAY OF THE DRAGON KING #15: VIKING SHIPS AT SUNRISE #16: HOUR OF THE OLYMPICS #17: TONIGHT ON THE TITANIC #18: BUFFALO BEFORE BREAKFAST #19: TIGERS AT TWILIGHT #20: DINGOES AT DINNERTIME #21: CIVIL WAR ON SUNDAY
”
”
Mary Pope Osborne (Mummies In The Morning (Magic Tree House #3))
“
He finally met my gaze again, tears still pooling in his eyes. “One day in the summer the three of us were out playing in the yard. It was just around sunset. There were fireflies everywhere, so you and William wanted to run around and catch them. And you held my hand like this—with your little finger wrapped around mine. You asked me to promise that I would make you happy forever. That was the contract we made … after you captured my heart.” My breath caught in my throat. I couldn’t move. Even if I didn’t remember
”
”
Nicole Conway (Mad Magic (Mad Magic Saga #1))
“
We're one of the three Solar Courts,' he said, motioning for me to sit with a graceful twist of his wrist. 'Our nights are far more beautiful and our sunsets and dawns are exquisite, but we do adhere to the laws of nature.'
I slid into the upholstered chair across from him. His tunic was unbuttoned at the neck, revealing a hint of the tanned chest beneath. 'And do the other courts choose not to?'
'The nature of the Seasonal Courts,' he said, 'is linked to their High Lords, whose magic and will keeps them in eternal spring, or winter, or fall, or summer. It has always been like that- some sort of strange stagnation. But the Solar Courts- Day, Dawn, and Night- are of a more... symbolic nature. We might be powerful, but even we cannot alter the sun's path or strength. Tea?'
The sunlight danced along the curve of the silver teapot. I kept my eager nod to a restrained dip of my chin. 'But you will find,' Rhysand went on, pouring a cup for me,' that our nights are more spectacular- so spectacular that some in my territory even awaken at sunset and go to bed at dawn, just to live under the starlight.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #2))
“
Watch The Sky.
Look how majestically it walks, it moves and shifts, it growls and screams, and sometimes sheds tears, like every drizzle or a rain droplet is a tear of either a deep melancholy or a mad ecstasy, like the clouds float along the sky drifting in a tune of their own, as if they are dancing in the Stage of this Magnificent Pathway, a string of Stars play hide and seek in its camouflage and while everything treads along this hurricane of a very Chaotic Forever Moving Wheel, there is this Calm, this innate Calm that is so breathable, so palpable, so tangible, as if the Whole Sky is a Magic weave of Something Eternal, something Extraordinarily Strangely Beautiful, something Simple yet Unfathomable, something that churns Hope and Despondency at the same time, something Smiling and Crying at the same time, something beyond our Understanding. Something that when we closely look in, we can just be, we can just float like those clouds and release the droplets of chaos from our mind in the very Silence of its mystical Majesticity, and slowly, perhaps very very distinctly in a snail's pace our Mind finally declutters its passing turmoil knowing how everything moves and shifts, growls and screams, but eventually finds a Silence of its own.
”
”
Debatrayee Banerjee
“
No one can possess a sunset like the one we saw that evening,' he went on. 'Just as no one can possess as afternoon of rain beating against the window, or the serenity of a sleeping child, or the magical moment when the waves break on the rocks. No one can possess the beautiful things of this Earth, but we can know them and love them. It is through such moments that God reveals himself to mankind.
”
”
Paulo Coelho (Brida)
“
No one can possess a sunset like the one we saw that evening," he went on. "Just as no one can possess an afternoon of rain beating against the window, or the serenity of a sleeping child, or the magical moment when the waves break on the rocks. No one can possess the beautiful things of this Earth, but we can know them and love them. It is through such moments that God reveals himself to mankind.
”
”
Paulo Coelho (Brida)
“
The songs of Fleetwood Mac are replete with magical tunes that urge the frenzy in you to rebel against double-edged tedium. Daedal composition of colour-warmed message on their albums prolongs my evenings beyond steadfast sunsets.
”
”
Nkwachukwu Ogbuagu
“
Life is a wonderful, mesmerizing, magical, fun, silly thing. And humans are astounding. We all know we're going to die, and yet we still live. We shout and curse and care when the full bin bag breaks, yet with every minute that passes we edge closer to the end. We marvel at a nectarine sunset over the M25 or the smell of a baby's head or the efficiency of flat-pack furniture, even though we know that everyone we love will cease to exist one day. I don't know how we do it.
”
”
Dolly Alderton (Everything I Know About Love)
“
Gratitude isn’t just a fancy way to pat yourself on the back or feel smug about saying “thank you” to the barista who spelled your name wrong. Nope, it’s a full-on life upgrade that doesn’t require a subscription or Wi-Fi. It’s a mindset, a way to see life that makes even a cold cup of coffee feel like a small win. When we show gratitude, we’re not just hoarding all the good vibes; we’re actually tossing them back out into the world like confetti, starting a chain reaction of positive energy. But let’s be honest—when was the last time you truly asked yourself: What am I grateful for? And no, your Wi-Fi signal doesn’t count.
Life’s a busy, chaotic mess. Between trying to remember your passwords, dodging traffic, and figuring out what’s for dinner (again), it’s no wonder we forget to appreciate the little things. That’s where gratitude comes in, giving us a chance to hit the brakes on our runaway thoughts and realize that, hey, maybe we do have it pretty good. That shift from “Ugh, my life is a series of unfortunate events” to “Wow, I have a roof over my head and socks without holes” can do wonders for your outlook.
Gratitude is like the mental equivalent of putting on glasses—suddenly, everything comes into focus. It grounds you in the now, making you realize that even during your worst “can’t-even” moments, there are still little gems worth celebrating. Whether it’s your friend’s cheesy joke, your pet’s goofy antics, or the sheer joy of finding that one comfy spot on the couch, these snippets of life, when recognized, add up to a sense of well-being that no amount of scrolling through social media can match.
The magic of practicing gratitude is that it turns “not enough” into “more than enough.” It’s like discovering you’ve been living in a treasure chest all along. And here’s the kicker: gratitude isn’t just about feeling warm and fuzzy; it’s also about spreading that warmth to others. Your good vibes become a beacon, making people wonder, “What’s their secret?” Spoiler: It’s not a miracle supplement.
But let’s talk about giving back. What does it mean to share gratitude with the world? It’s not complicated. It’s about realizing that by being aware of what we’re thankful for, we create an atmosphere where appreciation becomes a thing. That sincere “thank you” you offer to the overworked delivery driver or the moment you pause to notice the sunset—those actions radiate positivity more than you know. Gratitude is the gift that keeps on giving, even when you’re not keeping tabs on it.
If you want to research this more, Google is full of studies and numbers. But the real takeaway? Life experience shows us that gratitude is more than just a practice; it’s a game-changer. It shifts our focus to what we have, building mental resilience and helping us find peace and strength in the present. It’s a reminder that life’s value isn’t in towering achievements or shiny things but in the love, laughter, and moments that make us human.
”
”
Mark Casey (The Power of Gratitude : Harnessing the Life-Changing Power of Gratitude to Transform Your Mindset and Life.)
“
I went away and drew up a list of all the things you wouldn’t have to suffer if you weren’t here anymore. It was something like this: No more illness, no more struggling to be healthy. No struggling – period. No loss: you would never have to grieve the passing of another. Heartbreak! How lovely not to have to wake in the morning with a heart full of fragments and eyes full of grit. No ageing – here’s a universal truth: the older you get, the more life loses its sparkle, loses a little of the magic. The endless, wonderful possibilities of youth where everything and anything feel possible – that fades . . . But then I considered all the things you would not experience: Falling hopelessly in love. Your wedding day. Knowing the blessing of a child. Seeing the sunset in places far and wide. Earning the right in old age to become eccentric, even cantankerous. Getting properly drunk on champagne. Sleeping in a meadow, by a brook. Decorating a room. Waking wrapped in the arms of the one you love. Fresh caught lobster, eaten on a dock. Being old enough to know better, but still laughing so hard at nothing much that you feel dizzy with happiness. Oh, my darling, this list is endless, it stretches on for infinity . . . And
”
”
Amanda Prowse (The Food of Love)
“
Anubis the god of funerals and death Apophis the god of chaos Babi the baboon god Bast the cat goddess Bes the dwarf god Geb the earth god Heket the frog goddess Horus the war god, son of Isis and Osiris Isis the goddess of magic, wife of her brother Osiris and mother of Horus Khepri the scarab god, Ra’s aspect in the morning Khnum the ram-headed god, Ra’s aspect at sunset in the underworld Khonsu the moon god Mekhit minor lion goddess, married to Onuris Nekhbet the vulture goddess Nephthys the river goddess Nut the sky goddess Osiris the god of the underworld, husband of his sister Isis and father of Horus Ptah the god of craftsmen Ra the sun god, the god of order. Also known as Amun-Ra. Sekhmet the lion goddess Set the god of evil Shu the air god Sobek the crocodile god Tawaret the hippo goddess Thoth the god of knowledge
”
”
Rick Riordan (The Throne of Fire (The Kane Chronicles #2))
“
Basically, Sam Phillips recorded Bill Haley, Johnny Cash, and all those other Memphis guys; Chuck Berry played the top two strings; Elvis appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show above the waist; the Beatles made all the girls squirm by singing about wanting to hold their “hands”; Ray Davies got lost in a sunset; Pete Townshend smashed his guitar; Brian Wilson heard magic in his head and made it come out of a studio; the Rolling Stones urinated on a garage door; and then (skipping a bit) you’ve got Joey Levine and Chapman-Chinn and Mott the Hoople and Iggy and the Runaways and KISS and the Pink Fairies and Rick Nielsen and Jonathan Richman and Johnny Ramone and Lemmy and the Young brothers and Cook and Jones and Pete Shelley and Feargal Sharkey and Rob Halford … and Foghat. You get what I’m saying. It didn’t happen in a vacuum, but it did happen, and now here we are in the aftermath.
”
”
Frank Portman (King Dork Approximately (King Dork Series Book 2))
“
The woman was not what would be termed an exquisite, or what his grandfather’s generation would have styled ‘a diamond of the first water.’ There was something too primal in her features and her bearing, and her aura shimmered with power. She was a sunset on a mountain peak, or the eerie colors in the sky in the far north of Scotland. She was a vein of gold still glittering inside the rock, her treasure clear but held close, in her own keeping.
She would never belong to anyone but herself, and that made him long for her to share that self with him—in every conceivable way.
”
”
Cara McKinnon (Essential Magic (The Fay of Skye, #1))
“
Salty,” she said.
He chuckled, glancing down to the cobblestones as he crutched forward. "I know, I'm sweating."
"No," Iris said, drawing his eyes back to hers. "I prefer salty over sweet. I prefer sunsets over sunrises, but only because I love to watch the constellations begin to burn.
My favorite season is autumn, because my mum and I both believed that's the only time when magic can be tasted in the air. I am a devout tea lover and can drink my
weight in it."
A smile flickered over Roman's face. She was answering the questions he had asked in his last letter to her.
"Now," she said. "Tell me yours.
”
”
Rebecca Ross (Divine Rivals (Letters of Enchantment, #1))
“
Description: ‘With just five euros from each Facebook friend I could make a dream come true: spark an inextinguishable passion for literature in a tiny village that doesn’t even have a school (a bit like Juliette Binoche in Chocolat, but with books). The village is called Lucignana, only a few kilometres away from dreamy Garfagnana, and it’s here that I want to open a little bookshop – say, a tiny wooden cottage open six months a year where children (but also adults) can find a book that speaks to them, a magical place where you can admire the most wonderful sunsets on the Apuan Alps.
”
”
Alba Donati (Diary of a Tuscan Bookshop)
“
But when it came, all I felt was fear. Fear that he wouldn't be who I'd imagined. Fear that I wasn't ready. Fear that I wouldn't feel the way I was supposed to. Fear that I'd fuck up even this, this thing I was meant for. But what I was not afraid of, maybe, was that it was over. It's hard to be single, but it's also something you can get good at. And I was good at it. It's easy to love the things we are good at.
Yes, I wanted epic love. Weak-in-the-knees, movie-kiss-in-the-rain epic love. What I never realized, not up until this very moment, is that I got it - everything I'd been asking for. I'd been on the back of a motorcycle in Paris and across the Golden Gate Bridge at sunrise. I'd been on the beach in Santa Monica at sunset. My life has been filled with magical moments, I was just so busy waiting I didn't see them when they were here.
”
”
Rebecca Serle (Expiration Dates)
“
Summer Wild…
a restless summer child, sunrise-sweet and sunset-wild,
kissed by light glimmer and running free in the wild air,
under the magic of fireflies and in the glow of bonfire flare,
feeling alive and chasing new horizons is why we're here,
so when the sunset unfolds into the night of our lives…
promise you'll meet me there.
”
”
butterflies rising
“
Getting in touch with the beauty of nature makes life much more beautiful, much more real, and the more mindful and concentrated you are, the more deeply the sunset will reveal itself to you. Your happiness is multiplied by ten, by twenty. Look at a leaf or a flower with mindfulness, listen to the song of a bird, and you will get much more deeply in touch with them. After a minute of this practice, your joy will increase; your breathing will become deeper and more gentle; and this gentleness and depth will influence your body.
”
”
Thich Nhat Hanh (You Are Here: Discovering the Magic of the Present Moment)
“
the more mindful and concentrated you are, the more deeply the sunset will reveal itself to you.
”
”
Thich Nhat Hanh (You Are Here: Discovering the Magic of the Present Moment)
“
Life is a wonderful, mesmerising, magical, fun, silly thing. And humans are astounding. We all know we’re going to die, and yet we still live. We shout and curse and care when the bin bag breaks, yet with every minute that passes, we edge closer to the end. We marvel at a nectarine sunset over the M25 or the smell of a baby’s head or the efficiency of flat-pack furniture, even though we know that everyone we love will cease to exist one day. I don’t know how we do it.
”
”
Dolly Alderton (Everything I Know About Love)
“
It was the sunset when he put his had on my shoulders. Blue-red skies, so blue as the farewell might be, so red as the life will be.
- How long?
- For them? Maybe forever, maybe one day longer... - My Jinn is sad today and I'm not sure, why?
- Want to see them back? - It was just my faith in impossibility. - Want to give them a few seconds more?
- The stone is the stone, Eve. The not-alive is...
- We can try, Jinnie, why not? You tried. - Tears warmed my face. What the day is today?
- Do you believe in magic, Eve? When were you crying last time?
Honestly, I don't remember. What can it change, my tears? Terracotta cheeks, porcelain temples, stony trap, the eternity.
- Are you still afraid of the sarcophagus? - Just my thought, his crazy and psychedelic fear, conjecture. Do the Genies have a kind of trauma??
- We do have the hearts. Is it making you better? - I hear his question, I can't find his mind, the one I feel, skies in fire and howling wind.
-It is the Time, Eve, that wind, it is the breeze, uncommonly, experienced. Nothing cannot be back, we have to pay for this, from us, our particles, all who we are...
The man on crossing, perception of junction, step forward step back, I saw him before. Before of what? Where is he going now?
- That moment when can go to nowhere, Eve. How many times were you dying?
Honestly, I don't remember, what can it change, my death? Terracotta palms, porcelain thumbs, stony breath after all.
- Jinnie, what day is today? You are talking about the Death, yes? - The warm touch, route, depth. - Why here is so cold?
- Do you know what was before them, Eve? Do you want to see?
- No!!! - My feeling was No, my blood said Back, my senses Stroke pushing me back. Do not be imprisoned, Do not let Them to imprison you.
- You and Us... - His whisper, his step, gates slam shut.
WTF... Terracotta-Stony gates. Nothing more, nothing less, nothingness. I am smashed. With them... With??? Oh no, whatever, not they!!! Buried alive. Do not move, do not turn back, this is a delusion, you do not hear them, you are only the... Author???
- RED! - Shreds of his voice. - Blue and Red.
- What is she doing here??? - Rustle - Is she our Salvation???
They stepped, closer, they are the coldest I ever met.
- Hey, I am not him!!! - I was shouting. - Do not step on me!!!
There was something crushing under my feet. Sounds like... Ice? Not possible. Or yes, it is the frozen stone, millions of them, buttered Time.
- Go! - This is my Jinn - Get out from ice!!!
Go where? I am stuck, for eternity. With them and their horses. What the Jinn said? 'Ride them'. It was about the Dragons. Sorry, this is what I said! Was it? Upper, North, South. Go upper. Before they will arise...
- The woman is a woman is a woman... - Sometimes the thoughts are touching, the desires surrounding.
”
”
Eve Janson
“
And face-to-face with the lush vineyard, I feel my worries melt away. The grapes glow with that magical golden sunlight, but from here, it feels far more real. I turn and turn, drinking in the sights of the green vines, thick with plump grapes, the same sage green as the broad leaves fluttering in the breeze. Dusty paths stretch between the rows, and I want to walk through them forever, listening to the almost-quiet of this strange, beautiful world.
”
”
Julie Abe (The Charmed List)
“
He pushed his mind back to the original scene. From the palace, they could see the same sunset, even if trees and buildings covered parts of it. In this version of his vision, he was with the same Nora. She was just wearing nicer clothes. She’s what’s important. He fixed his will on that thought, opened his eyes, and smiled at her. “You’re the only part of my dream that matters, Nora. Not the location.
”
”
Carol Beth Anderson (The Vine Eater (The Magic Eaters Trilogy, #2))
“
Blessed be this worthy sadness.
Blessed be this knowing love.
Blessed be the finding home.
Blessed be the kitchen slow dance.
Blessed be the magical sunset.
Blessed be the strong arms.
Blessed be the true north.
Blessed be the unmet hope.
Blessed be the unwavering light.
Blessed be the hard goodbye.
Blessed be this holy life.
”
”
Jeanette LeBlanc
“
I prefer salty over sweet. I prefer sunsets over sunrises, but only because I love to watch the constellations begin to burn. My favorite season is autumn, because my mum and I both believed that’s the only time when magic can be tasted in the air.
”
”
Rebecca Ross (Divine Rivals (Letters of Enchantment, #1))
“
prefer salty over sweet. I prefer sunsets over sunrises, but only because I love to watch the constellations begin to burn. My favorite season is autumn, because my mum and I both believed that’s the only time when magic can be tasted in the air. I am a devout tea lover and can drink my weight in it.
”
”
Rebecca Ross (Divine Rivals (Letters of Enchantment, #1))
“
Chance’ simply means historical contingency - this happens rather than that. It is not automatically to be given the tendentious adjective “blind”, as if it were an unambiguous sign of meaninglessness. Rather, it may be seen as signifying the shuffling exploration and realization of fertile possibilities, by which creation makes itself. This due independence of process is a good gift, but it has a necessary cost attached to it. Raggednesses and blind alleys, as well as fruitful outcomes, are inescapable accompaniments of this evolving self-realization. Biology even helps theology a little with the deep question of theodicy, the problem of the evil and suffering of the world. Exactly the same biochemical processes that enable some cells to mutate and produce new forms of life - in other words, the very engine that has driven the stupendous four billion year history of life on Earth - these same processes will inevitably allow other cells to mutate and become malignant. In a non-magic world, it could not be different, and the world is not magic because its Creator is not a capricious Magician. I do not pretend for a moment that this insight removes all the perplexities posed by the sufferings of creation. Yet it affords some mild help, in that it suggests that the existence of cancer is not gratuitous, as if it were due to the Creator’s callousness or incompetence. We all tend to think that if we had been in charge of creation we would have made a better job of it. We would have kept the nice things (flowers and sunsets) and got rid of the nasty (disease and disaster). The more science helps us to understand the process of the universe, the more, it seems to me, to cohere into a single ‘package deal’. The light and the dark are two sides of the same coin. John Polkinghorne, “Understanding the Universe”, Cosmic Questions, James. B Miller, ed.
”
”
John Polkinghorne F.R.S. K.B.E.
“
There was just something about this gorgeous woman with the green eyes and the magic pussy and the perfect tits asking me for pointers on how to suck my dick that literally did it for me.
”
”
Laura Pavlov (Before the Sunset (Cottonwood Cove, #4))
“
At the very bottom of her jewel case, buried under other unworn pieces, she found a short string of pearls. The light in the room had begun to fade, so she carried the necklace to the window to see it better. She held it up to catch the sunset glow, letting the pearls dangle over her hand.
"Pretty," Velma said from behind her.
"They are, aren't they?" Annis let the smooth white gems slide between her fingers. There was a different stone in the middle, not a pearl. It was larger, shimmering white, with subtle layers of silver beneath its surface.
”
”
Louisa Morgan (The Age of Witches)
“
Endings and Beginnings:
Wherever you may find yourself- on the edge of a sunset, on the beams of a sunrise,
Balance is knowing when to hold on, and when to let go.
What ends, be it painfully or peacefully, is just a preparation for something new;
A rebirth, the magical seeds of a fresh perspective coming forth
We are all a story of endings and beginnings; a complexion of ego and soul, love and pain, flowers and vines, fire and water, earth and air.
So don't fear what falls away.
Beyond, in unseen places from far out traces, there is something more wondrous in preparation to come your way.
Darling one,
A heartbeat, the destiny of a new beginning is far too enticing to ever fear an ending
”
”
Christine Evangelou (The Stars In Our Scars: A Collection of Unique, Healing and Inspirational Poetry)
“
I prefer salty over sweet. I prefer sunsets over sunrises, but only because I love to watch the constellations begin to burn. My favorite season is autumn, because my mum and I both believed that’s the only time when magic can be tasted in the air. I am a devout tea lover and can drink my weight in it.
”
”
Rebecca Ross (Divine Rivals (Letters of Enchantment, #1))
“
It was because of the hag that he knew what conditions would make it possible for him to get to Elphame. Timing was important. Midnight, midday, sunrise, and sunset were the witching hours--never actually an hour long--when the boundary between worlds thinned. The ebb and flow of Elphame's natural magic made the boundary porous for seconds or minutes, during which one could cross over from one realm into the next...
”
”
Rochelle Hassan
“
no one can possess a sunset like the one we saw that evening,' he went on, 'just as no one can possess an afternoon of rain beating against the window, or the serenity of a sleeping child, or the magical moment when the waves break on the rocks; no one can possess the beautiful things of this earth, but we can know them and love them. It is through such moments that God reveals himself to mankind. we are not the masters of the sun, or of the afternoon, or of the waves, or even of the vision of God - because we cannot possess ourselves
”
”
Paulo Coelho (Brida)
“
Magic is not a theory. It is not just a striking sunset, or a synchronistic moment, or a perfect day. Magic is not a rarefied phenomenon nor does it serve us to treat it as such. There is magic in the tragedy, the shitty hair days, the excruciating pain, the arbitrary. There’s magic in the hustle, in the success and the failure. Allow yourself to see magic in every square inch and your life changes. The light and goodness are as equally sacred as the dark and the muck. To live a magical life is not synonymous with living a flawless life, or even a righteous one. Rather, it is accepting, embracing and surrendering to all of it. To the beautiful mess of being a human with a body and also a soul.
”
”
Bakara Wintner (WTF is Tarot?: ...& How Do I Do It?)
“
Silent morning
Quiet nature in dim light
It is almost peaceless of the chirping of birds
Waiting for the sunrise
Feeling satisfied with pure breath
Busy life- in pursuit of livelihood, running people
In the intensity of the wood-burning sun, astray finch
Sometimes the advent of north-wester
I’m scared
The calamitous heartache of the falling Caesalpinia pulcherrima!
Listen to get ears
Surprisingly I saw the unadulterated green weald
Vernal, yellow and crimson colors are the glorious beauty of the unique nature
An amazing reflection of Bengal
The housewife’s fringe of azure color sari fly in the gentle breeze
The cashew forest on the bank of flowing rivers white egret couple peep-bo
The kite crookedly flies get lost in the far unknown
The footstep of blustery childhood on the zigzag path
Standing on a head-high hill touches the fog
Beckoning with the hand of the magical horizon
The liveliness of a rainy-soaked juvenile
Momentary fascinated visibility of Ethnic group’s pineapple, tea, banana and jhum cultivation at the foot of the hill
Trailer- shrub, algae and pebble-stone come back to life in the cleanly stream of the fountain
Bumble bee is rudderless in the drunken smell of mountain wild flower
The heart of the most beloved is touched by pure love
In the distant sea water, pearl glow in the sunlight
Rarely, the howl of a hungry tiger float in the air from a deep forest
The needy fisherman’s hope and aspiration are mortgaged to the infinite sea
The waves come rushing on the beach delete the footprint to the beat of the dancing
The white cotton cloud is invisible in the bluey
The mew flies at impetuous speed to an unknown destination
A slice of happy smile at the bend of the wave
The western sky covered with the crimson glow of twilight
Irritated by the cricket’s endless acrid sound
The evening lamp is lit to flickering light of the firefly
The red crabs tittup wildly on the beach
Steadfast seeing
Sunset
A beautiful dream
Next sunrise.
”
”
Ashraful
“
They'd lay there and watch the magical show in the sky as it transformed from one colour to the next, before fading into darkness in a matter of moments. The sun had a split personality of its own.
”
”
Arti Manani (The Colours of Denial)
“
She Is Remarkable
Salute to the woman who knows who she is
And why she is who she is
A powerful being
Once thrown into a deep end of the ocean
But swam her way back to shore
She never stops moving forward
Nothing can ever pull her backwards
Such a hard nut to crack
Shout out to the superwoman
Determined to change the status quo
Because she feels the need to do so
Just like an eagle
She soars higher and higher
As the wind blows stronger
She does not let anything deter her
From reaching another level in life
Thumbs up to an amazing woman
A great force to be reckoned with
That committed Mother on the street
Who trades from sunrise to sunset
Trying to make ends meet
Oh, she has a heart so big!
Being mindful that come snow or sunshine
She has mouths to feed
I revere this gifted woman
Who uses her creativity
To make an impact in society
Despite the uniqueness of her talent
She remains a trendsetter
It could be the potter in whose hands clay becomes magic
The miner who touches gold, before it even gets sold to the markets
Or the strategist who sits in high level meetings, making sure organisations do not collapse
A special mention to the special woman
Who chooses not to give up
She understands that others look up to her
The smart lady out there, with a clear vision
She makes things happen for her family, community and the world at large
She deserves a badge of honour
Because she is remarkable!
”
”
Gift Gugu Mona (From My Mother's Classroom: A Badge of Honour for a Remarkable Woman)
“
Ηate rose
And any hope
Became blue;
How to reverse
The lies?
How to love again
In the fake sunset?
The blessed
Must not get cursed;
Who will be left
To push humans
Towards evolution?
What joy
can ever be calm
When all there is
Is harm?
”
”
Jazalyn (vViIrRuUsS: I Never Forget)