“
If music be the food of love, play on;
Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.
That strain again! it had a dying fall:
O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet sound,
That breathes upon a bank of violets,
Stealing and giving odour! Enough; no more:
'Tis not so sweet now as it was before.
O spirit of love! how quick and fresh art thou,
That, notwithstanding thy capacity
Receiveth as the sea, nought enters there,
Of what validity and pitch soe'er,
But falls into abatement and low price,
Even in a minute: so full of shapes is fancy
That it alone is high fantastical.
”
”
William Shakespeare (Twelfth Night)
“
Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.
”
”
Mark Twain
“
to love life, to love it even
when you have no stomach for it
and everything you've held dear
crumbles like burnt paper in your hands,
your throat filled with the silt of it.
When grief sits with you, its tropical heat
thickening the air, heavy as water
more fit for gills than lungs;
when grief weights you like your own flesh
only more of it, an obesity of grief,
you think, How can a body withstand this?
Then you hold life like a face
between your palms, a plain face,
no charming smile, no violet eyes,
and you say, yes, I will take you
I will love you, again.
”
”
Ellen Bass
“
Don’t put your wand there, boy!” roared Moody. “What if it ignited? Better wizards than you have lost buttocks, you know!” “Who d’you know who’s lost a buttock?” the violet-haired woman asked Mad-Eye interestedly. “Never you mind, you just keep your wand out of your back pocket!” growled Mad-Eye. “Elementary wand safety, nobody bothers about it anymore . . .” He stumped off toward the kitchen. “And I saw that,” he added irritably, as the woman rolled her eyes at the ceiling.
”
”
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, #5))
“
It is useless for me to describe to you how terrible Violet, Klaus, and even Sunny felt in the time that followed. If you have ever lost someone very important to you, then you already know how it feels, and if you haven't, you cannot possibly imagine it.
”
”
Lemony Snicket (The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events, #1))
“
I’m going to keep you. You’re mine, Violet.”
“Only if you’re mine.”
“I’ve been yours for longer than you could ever imagine.
”
”
Rebecca Yarros (Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1))
“
I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine.
”
”
William Shakespeare (A Midsummer Night’s Dream)
“
Are you ready?" Klaus asked finally.
"No," Sunny answered.
"Me neither," Violet said, "but if we wait until we're ready we'll be waiting for the rest of our lives, Let's go.
”
”
Lemony Snicket (The Ersatz Elevator (A Series of Unfortunate Events, #6))
“
The violets in the mountains have broken the rocks.
”
”
Tennessee Williams (Camino Real)
“
Do you know the song Violet Crowned Athens?” he asked. Yellow hair like hers was rare among the Greeks. Though some people say that Helen of Troy . . .
”
”
Yvonne Korshak (Pericles and Aspasia: A Story of Ancient Greece)
“
You saved my life. Why couldn't I save yours?
”
”
Jennifer Niven (All the Bright Places)
“
What if life could be this way? Only the happy parts, none of the terrible, not even the mildly unpleasant. What if we could just cut out the bad and keep the good? This is what I want to do with Violet - give her only the good, keep away the bad, so that good is all we ever have around us.
”
”
Jennifer Niven (All the Bright Places)
“
Because it's not a lie if it's how you feel.
”
”
Jennifer Niven (All the Bright Places)
“
She is oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus. The same elements that are inside the rest of us, but I can’t help thinking she’s more than that and she’s got other elements going on that no one’s ever heard of, ones that make her stand apart from everybody else. I feel this brief panic as I think, What would happen if one of those elements malfunctioned or just stopped working altogether? I make myself push this aside and concentrate on the feel of her skin until I no longer see molecules but Violet.
”
”
Jennifer Niven (All the Bright Places)
“
The splendor of the rose and the whiteness of the lily
do not rob the little violet of its scent nor the daisy of its simple charm.
If every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose its loveliness.
”
”
Thérèse of Lisieux
“
Bitter love, a violet with it's crown of thorns in a thicet of spiky passions, spear of sorrow, corolla of rage: how did you come to conquer my soul? What brought you?
”
”
Pablo Neruda (100 Love Sonnets)
“
At present I absolutely want to paint a starry sky. It often seems to me that night is still more richly coloured than the day; having hues of the most intense violets, blues and greens. If only you pay attention to it you will see that certain stars are lemon-yellow, others pink or a green, blue and forget-me-not brilliance. And without my expatiating on this theme it is obvious that putting little white dots on the blue-black is not enough to paint a starry sky.
”
”
Vincent van Gogh
“
Going for blood today, are we, Violence?"
"My name is Violet."
"I think my version fits you better.
”
”
Rebecca Yarros (Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1))
“
She was like the moon—part of her was always hidden away.
”
”
Dia Reeves (Bleeding Violet)
“
Do you think amethysts can be the souls of good violets?
”
”
L.M. Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables (Anne of Green Gables, #1))
“
The right way isn’t the only way.
”
”
Rebecca Yarros (Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1))
“
Gaston was not only a fierce lover, with endless wisdom and imagination, but he was also, perhaps, the first man in the history of the species who had made an emergency landing and had come close to killing himself and his sweetheart simply to make love in a field of violets.
”
”
Gabriel García Márquez (One Hundred Years of Solitude)
“
Roses are red, violets are blue, I have five fingers, the middle one is for you.
”
”
Gena Showalter (The Queen of Zombie Hearts (White Rabbit Chronicles, #3))
“
His hands skim my bare arms. “Just bounce a little when you walk,” he says, kissing my forehead, “and pretend you’re afraid of their guns” —another kiss between my eyebrows— “and act like the shrinking violet you could never be ”—a kiss on my cheek— “and you’ll be fine.
”
”
Veronica Roth (Insurgent (Divergent, #2))
“
Who in the rainbow can draw the line where the violet tint ends and the orange tint begins? Distinctly we see the difference of the colors, but where exactly does the one first blendingly enter into the other? So with sanity and insanity.
”
”
Herman Melville (Billy Budd, Sailor (Enriched Classics))
“
If you like nerds, raise your hand. If you don't, raise your standards.
”
”
Violet Haberdasher
“
Mass is not proportional to volume.
A girl as small as a violet. A girl who moves like a flower petal is pulling me toward her with more force than her mass.
Just then, like Newton’s apple, I rolled toward her without stopping until I fell on her, with a thump. With a thump.
My heart keeps bouncing between the sky and the ground.
It was my first love.
”
”
Kim In Yook (Physics of Love 사랑의 물리학)
“
Nowhere in the world is safe," Count Olaf said.
Not with you around," Violet agreed.
I'm no worse than anyone else," Count Olaf said.
”
”
Lemony Snicket (The End (A Series of Unfortunate Events, #13))
“
There is nothing to save, now all is lost,
but a tiny core of stillness in the heart
like the eye of a violet.
”
”
D.H. Lawrence
“
Violet: "You're an asshole."
Onyx: "Thank you, it's something that took an eternity to perfect.
”
”
Jessica Shirvington (Enticed (The Violet Eden Chapters, #2))
“
There is no me without you.
”
”
Rebecca Yarros (Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1))
“
And when others are quick to stand in front of me, Xaden always stands at my side, trusting me to hold my own.
”
”
Rebecca Yarros (Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1))
“
Anthony sneezed and pushed them aside. "Mother, I am trying to have a conversation with the duke."
Violet looked at Simon. "Do you want to have this conversation with my son?"
"Not particularly."
"Fine, then. Anthony, be quiet.
”
”
Julia Quinn (The Duke and I (Bridgertons, #1))
“
Can you enter a house uninvited?"
"No."
"Why?"
"That would be rude.
”
”
Abigail Gibbs (Dinner with a Vampire (The Dark Heroine, #1))
“
Jealous?' Luce asked. They were alone now. She threw her arms around his broad shoulders and looked deep into his violet eyes. 'Why would you be jealous?'
'Because,' he said, rubbing his hands across her back. 'Your dance card is full. For all eternity.
”
”
Lauren Kate (Torment (Fallen, #2))
“
You turned oranges into a weapon, Violence?
”
”
Rebecca Yarros (Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1))
“
I’m just… not as strong as other riders.” “I know exactly who and what you are, Violet Sorrengail.
”
”
Rebecca Yarros (Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1))
“
Did you ever think we would be anything other than unbelievable?
”
”
Jessica Shirvington (Embrace (The Violet Eden Chapters, #1))
“
You’re capable of hurting me in ways I’m not sure you’ve even begun to fathom, Violet. I might be skilled enough to land a death blow, but you alone have the power to fucking destroy me.
”
”
Rebecca Yarros (Iron Flame (The Empyrean, #2))
“
Your voice sounds like a midnight fire. All warm and worn in and golden. I could listen to you talk forever."
"I could never do that".
She laughed at him. He brought his lips to her ear.
"Your scent is like violets early in spring," he whispered. Then he laughed at himself because though it was true, he sounded like the worst kind of fool.
”
”
Veronica Rossi (Under the Never Sky (Under the Never Sky, #1))
“
I stared at the nose I'd seen bleeding only hours before, the violet eyes that had been so filled with pain. "Why?" I asked.
He knew what I meant, and shrugged. "Because when the legends get written, I didn't want to be remembered for standing on the sidelines. I want my future offspring to know that I was there, and that I fought against her at the end, even if I couldn't do anything useful."
I blinked, this time not at the brightness of the sun.
"Because," he went on, his eyes locked with mine, "I didn't want you to fight alone. Or die alone."
And for a moment, I remembered that faerie who had died in our foyer, and how I'd told Tamlin the same thing. "Thank you," I said, my throat tight.
Rhys flashed a grin that didn't quite reach his eyes. " I doubt you'll be saying that when I take you to the Night Court.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1))
“
Would you die for her?'
I almost stopped breathing.
I could feel his eyes on me.
'I do. Every day.
”
”
Jessica Shirvington (Emblaze (The Violet Eden Chapters, #3))
“
Tucking my nose into a book makes me completely oblivious to my surroundings. I would have made a terrible spy in the army--the first person to hand me a novel would have been able to shoot my head clean off without me noticing.
”
”
Alyxandra Harvey (Haunting Violet (Haunting Violet, #1))
“
Nothing is endless
I know that now
Let me go
V
-Violet's letter
”
”
Jessica Shirvington (Endless (The Violet Eden Chapters, #4))
“
He thought how sad it was to be an Animal who had never had a bunch of violets picked for him.
”
”
A.A. Milne
“
Like some winter animal the moon licks the salt of your hand,
Yet still your hair foams violet as a lilac tree
From which a small wood-owl calls.
”
”
Johannes Bobrowski
“
Anyone who knew Violet well could tell she was thinking hard, because her long hair was tied up in a ribbon to keep it out of her eyes. Violet had a real knack for inventing and building strange devices, so her brain was often filled with images of pulleys, levers, and gears, and she never wanted to be distracted by something as trivial as her hair.
”
”
Lemony Snicket (The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events, #1))
“
Dearest Annie,
Roses are red. Violets are blue. I’m using my hand But I’m thinking of you.
- Ronan
P.S. Just to clarify, I’m using my hand to write this note…get your mind out of the gutter.
”
”
L.H. Cosway (The Hooker and the Hermit (Rugby, #1))
“
I do. I’m sorry if you expect me to do the noble thing. I warned you. I’m not sweet or soft or kind, and you fell anyway. This is what you get, Violet— me. The good, the bad, the unforgivable. All of it. I am yours.” His arm wraps around the small of my back, holding me steady and close. “You want to know something true? Something real? I love you. I’m in love with you. I have been since the night the snow fell in your hair and you kissed me for the first time. I’m grateful my life is tied to yours because it means I won’t have to face a day without you in it. My heart only beats as long as yours does, and when you die, I’ll meet Malek at your side. It’s a damned good thing that you love me, too, because you’re stuck with me in this life and every other that could possibly follow.
”
”
Rebecca Yarros (Iron Flame (The Empyrean, #2))
“
What are you doing here?" she asked as she slowed from a jog to a walk and placed her hands on her hips. It would take her a few minutes to get her breathing back to normal. Longer if he kept smiling at her like that.
He shrugged. "I couldn't sleep. What about you?"
She opted for the obvious and filled her voice with as much sarcasm as she could. "I live here, actually
”
”
Kimberly Derting (The Body Finder (The Body Finder, #1))
“
Blue is for cruel bargains; green is for daring what you oughtn’t; violet is for brute force. I will say to you: Coral coaxes; pink insists; red compels. I will say to you: You are dear to me as attar of roses. Please do not get eaten.
”
”
Catherynne M. Valente (Deathless)
“
Life and love are life and love, a bunch of violets is a bunch of violets, and to drag in the idea of a point is to ruin everything. Live and let live, love and let love, flower and fade, and follow the natural curve, which flows on, pointless.
”
”
D.H. Lawrence
“
The cemetery is an open space among the ruins, covered in winter with violets and daisies. It might make one in love with death, to think that one should be buried in so sweet a place.
”
”
Percy Bysshe Shelley (Adonais)
“
He's not-" Daniel started to say. He watched a red-tailed hawk land in an oak tree over their heads. "He's not good enough for you."
Luce had heard people say that line a thousand times before. It was what everyone always said. Not good enough. But when the words passed Daniel's lips, they sounded important, even somehow true and relevant, not vague and dismissive the way the phrase had always sounded to her in the past.
"Well, then," she said in a quiet voice, "who is?"
Daniel put his hands on his hips. He laughed to himself for a long time. "I don't know," he said finally. "That's a terrific question."
Not exactly the answer Luce was looking for. "It's not like it's that hard," she said, stuffing her hands into her pockets because she wanted to reach out for him. "To be good enough for me."
Daniel's eyes looked like they were falling, all the violet that had been in them a moment before turned a deep, dark gray. "Yes," he said. "Yes, it is.
”
”
Lauren Kate
“
I am annoyingly aware of everything you do.
”
”
Rebecca Yarros (Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1))
“
I think I liked you better before you decided that feelings were something we need to discuss.”
“Sorry to inconvenience you, but this year the role of Violet Sorrengail”—he points to me—“ will be played by Xaden Riorson”—he taps his chest—“ who will drag her, kicking and screaming if he has to, into a real relationship with real discussions, because he refuses to lose her again. If I have to evolve, you do, too.
”
”
Rebecca Yarros (Iron Flame (The Empyrean, #2))
“
This was not a fearie tale. This was not the movies. This was life. It hurt more. It was excruciating. It was excruciatingly beautiful.
”
”
Francesca Lia Block (Violet & Claire)
“
Love will kill us all." He said sadly. "First it makes us lie furiously so we can be what me must in order to appear deserving. Then, it tears us apart with raw truth. Whether we are man, exile or angel - It doesn't matter. For us all, the nature of truth is unforgiving.
”
”
Jessica Shirvington (Emblaze (The Violet Eden Chapters, #3))
“
Music, When Soft Voices Die
Music, when soft voices die,
Vibrates in the memory;
Odours, when sweet violets sicken,
Live within the sense they quicken.
Rose leaves, when the rose is dead,
Are heap'd for the belovèd's bed;
And so thy thoughts, when thou art gone,
Love itself shall slumber on.
”
”
Percy Bysshe Shelley (The Complete Poems)
“
I walk through the black Indiana night, under a ceiling of stars, and think about the phrase "elegance and euphoria," and how it describes exactly what I feel with Violet. For once, I don't want to be anyone but Theodore Finch, the boy she sees. He understands what it is to be elegant and euphoric and a hundered different people most of them flawed and stupid, part asshole, part screwup, part freak, a boy who wants to be easy for the folks around him so that he doesn't worry them and, most of all, easy for himself. A boy who belongs - here in the world, here in his own skin. He is exactly who I want to be and what I want my epitaph to say: The Boy Violet Markey Loves.
”
”
Jennifer Niven (All the Bright Places)
“
Thank you, Liam. Thank you for being my shadow. Thank you for being my friend.
”
”
Rebecca Yarros (Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1))
“
Is it snowing where you are? All the world that I see from my tower is draped in white and the flakes are coming down as big as pop-corns. It's late afternoon - the sun is just setting (a cold yellow colour) behind some colder violet hills, and I am up in my window seat using the last light to write to you.
”
”
Jean Webster (Daddy-Long-Legs (Daddy-Long-Legs, #1))
“
They can't even decide what flavor of crazy I am.
”
”
Dia Reeves (Bleeding Violet)
“
I am a work in progress.
”
”
Violet Yates (Lost & Found)
“
Daniel's face-- the way it had been bathed in violet light when he'd carried her home this morning-- appeared before her eyes. His gleaming golden hair. His tender, knowing eyes. The way one touch of his lips transported her far away from any darkness. For him, she'd suffer all of this, and more.
”
”
Lauren Kate (Fallen (Fallen, #1))
“
She can't die, and not just because there's a chance I won't survive. She can't die because I know I can't live without her even if I do.
”
”
Rebecca Yarros (Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1))
“
Never bullshit a bullshitter.
”
”
Jennifer Niven (All the Bright Places)
“
Kidnapped by a vampire, death by a squid. How tragic.
”
”
Abigail Gibbs (Dinner with a Vampire (The Dark Heroine, #1))
“
I hope one day
somebody loves you
so much
that they see violets
in the bags under your eyes,
sunsets in the downward arch
of your lips
that they recognize you
as something green,
something fresh and still growing
even if sometimes
you are growing sideways
that they do not waste their time
trying to fix you.
”
”
Trista Mateer
“
I measure time by the days I've spent away from you/ that thought occurred to me/ as i watched the sky go dark from blue
”
”
Lana Del Rey (Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass)
“
Imagination is what you do with your inspiration.
”
”
Violet Haberdasher
“
She wished she had a little yellow house of her own, with a flower box full of real flowers and herbs – pansies and rosemary – and a sweet lover who would swing dance with her in the evenings and cook pasta and read poetry aloud.
”
”
Francesca Lia Block (Violet & Claire)
“
He reached out, capturing her hand in his. He laced his fingers casually through hers.
Violet leaned against him and the calm finally came, settling over her peacefully.
And then he kissed her. Gently. Softly. Not on the lips, as she'd imagined so many times before, but on her forehead.
The gesture was sweet and a little possessive.
Violet hoped, maybe, it was a start.
”
”
Kimberly Derting (The Body Finder (The Body Finder, #1))
“
It's my privilege to love you.
”
”
Jessica Shirvington (Endless (The Violet Eden Chapters, #4))
“
You stop fearing the Devil when you're holding his hand...
”
”
April Genevieve Tucholke (Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (Between, #1))
“
But the three siblings were not born yesterday. Violet was born more than fifteen years before this particular Wednesday, and Klaus was born approximately two years after that, and even Sunny who had just passed out of babyhood, was not born yesterday. Neither were you, unless of course I am wrong, in which case, welcome to the world, little baby, and congratulations on learning to read so early in life.
”
”
Lemony Snicket (The Penultimate Peril (A Series of Unfortunate Events, #12))
“
I’ve always loved you,” he said, his eyes a blue that was almost violet. “You know this.” She swallowed a lump in her throat. “I only wonder whether I deserve such devotion.”
“Sometimes people fall in love with those who do not return the same strength of feelings. It is as it is,” he said with a quiet intensity. “What I give, I give freely. You owe me nothing, not love, not friendship, not even obligation.
”
”
Sherry Thomas (Tempting the Bride (Fitzhugh Trilogy, #3))
“
I understood that every flower created by Him is beautiful, that the brilliance of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not lessen the perfume of the violet or the sweet simplicity of the daisy. I understood that if all the lowly flowers wished to be roses, nature would no longer be enameled with lovely hues. And so it is in the world of souls, Our Lord's living garden.
”
”
Thérèse of Lisieux
“
His brow furrowed. "It's beautiful... and awful, too. What is it?"
"It's me
”
”
Jessica Shirvington (Emblaze (The Violet Eden Chapters, #3))
“
You’re not going to handle me?” I call after him, shock raising my brows.
“Not tonight!” he tosses over his shoulder.
I scoff. “What are you waiting for?”
“It’s no fun if you expect it,” he answers, striding into the darkness. “Now, get back to bed before your wingleader realizes you’re out after curfew.”
“What?” I gawk after him. “You’re my wingleader!
”
”
Rebecca Yarros (Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1))
“
It’s hard to love a second home as much as the first.”
I swallow. “It’s easy when the second home is the right one.
”
”
Rebecca Yarros (Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1))
“
What the eyes don't see, the heart can't feel.
”
”
Dia Reeves (Bleeding Violet)
“
Kaspary: a level of awesomeness so high it kicks everyone else's arse, leaving them breathless and bewildered.
”
”
Abigail Gibbs (Dinner with a Vampire (The Dark Heroine, #1))
“
Girl power in my mind is to let girls be exactly what they are. Let them be angry. Let them be resentful. And rebellious. Let them be hard and soft and loving and sad and silly. Let them be wrong. Let them be right. Let them be everything. because, they are everything.
”
”
Amy Sherman-Palladino
“
The walls weren't moving, and the room was open - gaping. No colors, but shades of darkness, of night . Only those star-flecked violet eyes were bright, full of color and light. He gave me a lazy smile before he leaned forward.
I pulled away, but his hands were like shackles. I could do nothing as his mouth met with my cheek, and he licked away a tear. His tongue was hot against my skin, so startling that I couldn't move as he licked away another path of salt water, and then another. My body went taut and loose all at once and I burned, even as chills shuddered along my limbs. It was only when his tongue danced along the damp edges of my lashes that I jerked back.
He chuckled as I scrambled for the corner of the cell. I wiped my face as I glared at him.
He smirked, sitting down against a wall. "I figured that would get you to stop crying."
"It was disgusting." I wiped my face again.
"Was it?" He quirked an eyebrow and pointed to his palm - to the place where my tattoo would be. "Beneath all your pride and stubbornness, I could have sworn I detected something that felt differently. Interesting."
"Get out."
"As usual, your gratitude is overwhelming.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1))
“
I have not had one word from her
Frankly I wish I were dead
When she left, she wept
a great deal; she said to me, "This parting must be
endured, Sappho. I go unwillingly."
I said, "Go, and be happy
but remember (you know
well) whom you leave shackled by love
"If you forget me, think
of our gifts to Aphrodite
and all the loveliness that we shared
"all the violet tiaras,
braided rosebuds, dill and
crocus twined around your young neck
"myrrh poured on your head
and on soft mats girls with
all that they most wished for beside them
"while no voices chanted
choruses without ours,
no woodlot bloomed in spring without song...
”
”
Sappho
“
At last he stopped, and she stared down at the printed column of words, unable to comprehend a single one. His hand, warm and steady, wound its way around hers, wrapping it like a spider would its prey. She surrendered it to him, unable to watch even as his thumb traced the place, just above her knuckles, where he had once written his number in deep violet. Isobel ceased to breathe. Her heart pounded in her chest, her thoughts shattering into senseless fragments. All the while, her eyes remained trained and unblinking on the open page. Lines without meaning stared up at her, little more than black sticks in an otherwise white world.
”
”
Kelly Creagh (Nevermore (Nevermore, #1))
“
Always.
In the twilight of the morphling, Peeta whispers the word and I go searching for him. It's a gauzy, violet-tinted world, with no hard edges, and many places to hide. I push through cloud banks, follow faint tracks, catch the scent of cinnamon, of dill. Once I feel his hand on my cheek and try to trap it, but it dissolves like mist through my fingers.
When I finally begin to surface into the sterile hospital room in 13, I remember. I was under the influence of sleep syrup. My heel had been injured after I'd climbed out on a branch over the electric fence and dropped back into 12. Peeta had put me to bed and I had asked him to stay with me as I was drifting off. He had whispered something I couldn't quite catch. But some part of my brain had trapped his single word of reply and let it swim up through my dreams to taunt me now. "Always.
”
”
Suzanne Collins (Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3))
“
Sometimes the desire to be lost again, as long ago, comes over me like a vapor. With growth into adulthood, responsibilities claimed me, so many heavy coats. I didn’t choose them, I don’t fault them, but it took time to reject them. Now in the spring I kneel, I put my face into the packets of violets, the dampness, the freshness, the sense of ever-ness. Something is wrong, I know it, if I don’t keep my attention on eternity. May I be the tiniest nail in the house of the universe, tiny but useful. May I stay forever in the stream. May I look down upon the windflower and the bull thistle and the coreopsis with the greatest respect.
”
”
Mary Oliver (Upstream: Selected Essays)
“
You have to fight, Vi,' Xaden whispers against my forehead as we move. 'You can hate me all you want when you wake up. You can scream, hit, throw your fucking daggers at me for all I care, but you have to live. You can't make me fall for you and then die. None of this is worth it without you.
”
”
Rebecca Yarros (Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1))
“
None of your knowledge, your reading, your connections will be of any use here: two legs suffice, and big eyes to see with. Walk alone, across mountains or through forests. You are nobody to the hills or the thick boughs heavy with greenery. You are no longer a role, or a status, not even an individual, but a body, a body that feels sharp stones on the paths, the caress of long grass and the freshness of the wind. When you walk, the world has neither present nor future: nothing but the cycle of mornings and evenings. Always the same thing to do all day: walk. But the walker who marvels while walking (the blue of the rocks in a July evening light, the silvery green of olive leaves at noon, the violet morning hills) has no past, no plans, no experience. He has within him the eternal child. While walking I am but a simple gaze.
”
”
Frédéric Gros (A Philosophy of Walking)
“
It's too late!" I cried
"I thought that once, too. But it's never too late. You taught me that. Love can make us eternal.” Phoenix’s eyes closed, haunted to the end. “I'm sorry,” were his last words.
"I forgive you,” I sobbed, gripping onto him desperately. “I forgive you.”
It was too late.
All. Too. Late.
”
”
Jessica Shirvington (Endless (The Violet Eden Chapters, #4))
“
[Daniel] was still glowing, as if lit from within. She could still clearly see his violet-gray eyes and his full mouth. His strong hands and broad shoulders. She could reach out and fold herself into her love's light.
He reached for her. Luce closed her eyes at his touch, expecting something too otherworldly for her human body to withstand. But no. It was simply, reassuringly, Daniel.
She reached around his back to finger his wings. She reached for them nervously, as if they could burn her, but they flowed around her fingers, softer than the smoothest velvet, the plushest rug. The way she'd like to imagine that a fluffy, sun-drenched cloud would feel if she could cup it in her hands.
"You're so...beautiful.
”
”
Lauren Kate (Fallen (Fallen, #1))
“
There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance; pray, love, remember; and there is pansies, that’s for thoughts...
There’s fennel for you, and columbines; there’s rue for you, and here’s some for me; we may call it herb of grace o’ Sundays. O, you must wear your rue with a difference. There’s a daisy. I would give you some violets, but they wither’d all when my father died. They say he made a good end,— [Sings.]
“For bonny sweet Robin is all my joy.
Thought and afflictions, passion, hell itself, She turns to favor and to prettiness.
Song. And will a not come again? And will a not come again? No, no, he is dead; Go to thy deathbed; He never will come again. His beard was as white as snow, Flaxen was his poll. He is gone, he is gone, And we cast away moan. God ’a’ mercy on his soul.
”
”
William Shakespeare
“
Violet Sorrengail,' she whispers, moving closer. 'Are you wearing Riorson's flight jacket?'
Liam's head snaps in my direction, curse his stupidly good hearing.
'Why would you say that?' I do a shitty job of feigning shock and shove the sheaths into every available pocket in this thing. All three of them, which are considerably deeper than the ones in my own jacket.
'Oh, I don't know. Because it's huge on you and there are three stars right here?' She taps where there's only one star on her uniform.
Well, shit. Just goes to show that neither of us was thinking clearly.
'It could be any third-year's.' I shrug.
'With a Fourth Wing shield on the shoulder?' She cocks an eyebrow.
'That does limit it a bit,' I agree.
'And a wingleader emblem beneath those stars?' she teases.
'Fine, it's his.
”
”
Rebecca Yarros (Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1))
“
You smell of winter dew at the first crack of dawn and when you use your power it feels like being submerged in the most intoxicating vanilla cream that I lose myself in it every time and … and you were beautiful,‟ he blurted out, catching us both by surprise. But he went on, ignoring the fact that my hand was still slipping. „So stunning in that dress the other night I could hardly look at you it hurt so much. You are the thing I dread in myself, Violet, because … I love you so much that I can‟t trust myself. I‟d die for you, give up all my power for you, I‟d give my soul in an instant, even if it meant I had to spend eternity in torment - just for one moment with you as mine. Wanting you consumes me. I dread you because I know the risk but I‟m so selfish I want you anyway. I‟d take you even though it could kill you
”
”
Jessica Shirvington
“
I’ve always been a slow learner in some areas of my life.mostly the areas known as myself. Or maybe I should say ‘selves.’because the fact is, I’ve never, even as a child, felt I’m only one self, only one person. I’ve always felt I’m quite a few more than one. For example, there’s my jokey self, there’s my morose and fed-up self,there’s my lewd and disgusting self. There’s my clever-clogs self, and my fading-violet-who-cant-make-up-her-mind-about-anything self. There’s my untidy-clothes-everywhere-all-over-my-room self, and my manically tidy self when I want my room to be minimalist and Zen to the nth degree. There’s my confidant, arrogant self and my polite and reasonable and good listener self. There’s my self-righteous self and my wickedly bad self, my flaky self and my bsentimental self. There are selfs I like and selfs I don’t like.there’s my little-girl selfnwhonlikes to play silly games and there’s my old-woman self when I’m quite sure I’m eighty and edging towards geriatric.
The self I show in action at any moment depends on where I am, who I’m with, the circumstances of the situation and the mood I’m in.
”
”
Aidan Chambers (This Is All: The Pillow Book of Cordelia Kenn)
“
and I looked and looked at her, and knew as clearly as I know I am to die, that I loved her more than anything I had ever seen or imagined on earth, or hoped for anywhere else. She was only the faint violet whiff and dead leaf echo of the nymphet I had rolled myself upon with such cries in the past; an echo on the brink of a russet ravine, with a far wood under a white sky, and brown leaves choking the brook, and one last cricket in the crisp weeds... but thank God it was not that echo alone that I worshipped. What I used to pamper among the tangled vines of my heart, mon grand pch radieux, had dwindled to its essence: sterile and selfish vice, all that I cancelled and cursed. You may jeer at me, and threaten to clear the court, but until I am gagged and halfthrottled, I will shout my poor truth. I insist the world know how much I loved my Lolita, this Lolita, pale and polluted, and big with another’s child, but still gray-eyed, still sooty-lashed, still auburn and almond, still Carmencita, still mine; Changeons de vie, ma Carmen, allons vivre quelque, part o nous ne serons jamais spars; Ohio? The wilds of Massachusetts? No matter, even if those eyes of hers would fade to myopic fish, and her nipples swell and crack, and her lovely young velvety delicate delta be tainted and torneven then I would go mad with tenderness at the mere sight of your dear wan face, at the mere sound of your raucous young voice, my Lolita.
”
”
Vladimir Nabokov (Lolita)
“
I think this is the ugliest place I’ve ever seen. Not just here. The whole state.” I hear my parents telling me not to be negative, which is funny because I’ve always been the happy one. It’s Eleanor who was moody. “I used to think that. But then I realized, believe it or not, it’s actually beautiful to some people. It must be, because enough people live here, and they can’t all think it’s ugly.” He smiles out at the ugly trees and the ugly farmland and the ugly kids as if he can see Oz. As if he can really, truly see the beauty that’s there. In that moment I wish I could see it through his eyes.
”
”
Jennifer Niven (All the Bright Places)
“
A Kite is a Victim
A kite is a victim you are sure of.
You love it because it pulls
gentle enough to call you master,
strong enough to call you fool;
because it lives
like a desperate trained falcon
in the high sweet air,
and you can always haul it down
to tame it in your drawer.
A kite is a fish you have already caught
in a pool where no fish come,
so you play him carefully and long,
and hope he won't give up,
or the wind die down.
A kite is the last poem you've written
so you give it to the wind,
but you don't let it go
until someone finds you
something else to do.
A kite is a contract of glory
that must be made with the sun,
so you make friends with the field
the river and the wind,
then you pray the whole cold night before,
under the travelling cordless moon,
to make you worthy and lyric and pure.
Gift
You tell me that silence
is nearer to peace than poems
but if for my gift
I brought you silence
(for I know silence)
you would say
This is not silence
this is another poem
and you would hand it back to me
There are some men
There are some men
who should have mountains
to bear their names through time
Grave markers are not high enough
or green
and sons go far away to lose the fist
their father’s hand will always seem
I had a friend he lived and died
in mighty silence and with dignity
left no book son or lover to mourn.
Nor is this a mourning song
but only a naming of this mountain
on which I walk
fragrant, dark and softly white
under the pale of mist
I name this mountain after him.
-Believe nothing of me
Except that I felt your beauty
more closely than my own.
I did not see any cities burn,
I heard no promises of endless night,
I felt your beauty
more closely than my own.
Promise me that I will return.-
-When you call me close
to tell me
your body is not beautiful
I want to summon
the eyes and hidden mouths
of stone and light and water
to testify against you.-
Song
I almost went to bed
without remembering
the four white violets
I put in the button-hole
of your green sweater
and how i kissed you then
and you kissed me
shy as though I'd
never been your lover
-Reach into the vineyard of arteries for my heart.
Eat the fruit of ignorance and share with me the mist and
fragrance of dying.-
”
”
Leonard Cohen (The Spice-Box of Earth)