“Films and television let us experience other lives vicariously, or perhaps voyeuristically, as we watch those lives play out. But in a novel, we can become those characters, we can identify from the inside with someone whose life is radically different from our own. Best of all, when it’s over … we get to be ourselves again, changed slightly or profoundly by the experience, possessed of new insights perhaps, but recognizably us once more.”
Source: How to Read Novels Like a Professor: A Jaunty Exploration of the World's Favorite Literary Form
“Bluntly and quietly, in a series of simple, forthright sentences, she dismantled the architecture of unhappiness that had been growing up around us for the past several days. She was calling from the office she said, and had to talk in a low voice, 'but if you can hear me, Sid' she began, 'there are four things I want you to know. First, I haven't stopped thinking about you since I left the house this morning. Second, I've decided to have the baby, and we're never going to use the word "abortion" again. Third, don't bother to make dinner. [...] Fourth, make sure Mr. Johnson's ready for action. I'm going to attack you the minute I walk in the door, my love, so be prepared.”
Source: Oracle Night
“Nature battles against us sometimes, and it can be hard. Our souls seek a soul mate and our bodies seek to procreate. You need to be wise and self controlled and not put yourself in a place where nature might overcome your commonsense.”
Source: Arousing Love, a teen novel - First Three Chapters
“L'uovo ha una forma perfetta benché sia fatto col culo.”
“Unbutton, unzip, unclip, untie, undo, undress.”
“Understood,” she replied.”
Source: Dirty Pretty Things
“Without question, his picture did not do him justice, but again, he was dead when it was taken”
Source: The Branch and the Scaffold: The True Story of the West's Hanging Judge
“As Anna poured her heart out over the phone, Ted's own heart lit up like a solar flare. He wanted nothing more than to show Anna how he saw her: how beautiful and perfect she was in his eyes. He needed to let her know that he was going to carry that memory—that knowledge—of her inside him, so that no matter what happened between them, no matter how down she got on herself, he could do this for her: he could love her, selflessly and unceasingly, with total commitment and purity, for the rest of his life.
An hour later, Anna sniffled. 'Thank you for listening, Ted,' she said. 'It really means a lot to me.'
I would die for you, Ted thought.
'No problemo,' Ted said.”
Source: You Know You Want This: Cat Person and Other Stories
“3053Geography also gave Russia a rich choice of potential enemies.”
“The millions and millions of corpses, the wasted lives that communism left behind as testament to its main accomplishment, were enough to give any sane believer pause. There were some true believers left, like the British historian Eric Hobsbawm, but the world generally reacted to them with the incredulity deserved for a person standing on top of a pile of corpses promising that with just a few more deaths he could make the whole thing right.”
Source: The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam
“By not conveying what needs to be conveyed to maintain some short-term harmony, you can also prevent others from making decisions that are informed and mature. This may cause many problems to remain unsolved or deteriorate, and you may even lose people’s trust and become less well-regarded by others.”
Source: The Personal Sustainability Handbook: 60+ Practices to Sustainabilize Your Health, Finances, Relationships and Beyond