#classics

But the older he grew and the more intimately he came to know his brother, the oftener the thought occurred to him that the power of working for the general welfare – a power of which he felt himself entirely destitute – was not a virtue but rather a lack of something: not a lack of kindly honesty and noble desires and tastes, but a lack of the power of living, of what is called heart – the aspiration which makes a man choose one out of all the innumerable paths of life that present themselves, and desire that alone. ↗

— Leo Tolstoy

#romances #russian-literature #life

Ruin, eldest daughter of Zeus, she blinds us all, that fatal madness—she with those delicate feet of hers, never touching the earth, gliding over the heads of men to trap us all. She entangles one man, now another. ↗

— Homer

#greece #ruin #men

396. Patience is a Virtue every where; but it shines with great Lustre in the Men of Government. 397. Some are so Proud or Testy, they won't hear what they should redress. 398. Others so weak, they sink or burst under the weight of their Office, though they can lightly run away with the Salary of it. ↗

— William Penn

#men

Jonah-John-if I had been a Sam, I would have been a Jonah still-not because I have been unlucky for others, but because somebody or something has compelled me to be certain places, at certain times, without fail. Conveyances and motives, both conventional and bizarre, have been provided. And, according to plan, at each appointed second, at each appointed place this Jonah was there. ↗

— Kurt Vonnegut

#literature #science-fiction #motivational

Nature pulls one way and human nature another. ↗

— E.M. Forster

#english-lit #gay-authors #nature

I live not in myself, but I become Portion of that around me: and to me High mountains are a feeling, but the hum of human cities torture. ↗

— George Gordon Byron

#epic-poetry #poetry #verse #torture

The person I am in the company of my sisters has been entirely different from the person I am in the company of other people. Fearless, powerful, surprising, moved as I otherwise am only when I write. ↗

— Franz Kafka

#classics

solitude begins with a time and a place for God, and God alone. If we really believe not only that God exists but also that God is actively present in our lives-- healing, teaching and guiding-- we need to set aside a time and space to give God our undivided attention. (Matt 6:6) ↗

— Henri J.M. Nouwen

#classics

All i want is a dress with puffy sleaves ↗

— L.M. Montgomery

#classics

I don't lack for bed partners, so I don't need to scrounge for unwilling scraps.-Spade ↗

— Jeaniene Frost

#hilarious #night-huntress #spade #classics