There were days when she was unhappy, she did not know why—when it did not seem worth while to be glad or sorry, to be alive or dead; when life appeared to her like a grotesque pandemonium and humanity like worms struggling blindly toward inevitable annihilation.
--Kate Chopin, The Awakening
He used to think that he wanted to be good, he wanted to be kind, he wanted to be brave and wise, but it was all pretty difficult. He wanted to be loved, too, if he could fit it in.
--F.Scott Fitzgerald, Tender Is The NIght
She is a friend of my mind. She gather me, man. The pieces I am, she gather them and give them back to me in all the right order.
--Toni Morrison, Beloved
Feeling no remorse must be a blessing when all you have are your memories.
--Jon Ronson, The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through The Madness Industry
When it came time to die, we knew and went to deep yards where we lay down and our bones turned to brass. We were picked over. We were used to fix broken clocks, music boxes; our pelvises were fitted onto pinions, our spines soldered into cast works. Our ribs were fitted as gear teeth and tapped and clicked like tusks. This is how, finally, we were joined.
--Paul Harding, Tinkers
There is a beauty in the world, though it's harsher than we expect it to be.
--Michael Cunningham, The Hours