#if

I promised I'd save him, take him home! I promised him!" . . . Thomas hugged Chuck to his chest, squeezed him as tightly as possible, as if that could somehow bring him back, or show thanks for saving his life, for being his friend when no one else would. Thomas cried, wept like he'd never wept before. His great, racking sobs echoed through the chamber like the sounds of tortured pain. (pg 358 hardback) ↗

— James Dashner

#pledge #sadness #spoiler #life

If Gone With the Wind has a theme it is that of survival. What makes some people come through catastrophes and others, apparently just as able, strong, and brave, go under? It happens in every upheaval. Some people survive; others don't. What qualities are in those who fight their way through triumphantly that are lacking in those that go under? I only know that survivors used to call that quality 'gumption.' So I wrote about people who had gumption and people who didn't. ↗

— Margaret Mitchell

#life

It doesn’t matter anyway!” Patrick couldn’t sit down. He couldn’t. “It’s not like sex is anything to shout about! It’s icky, and the guy never wants to wear a condom, and I have to give a frickin’ health and safety lesson every time I give a blow job because they think I’m stupid, and I know you can get shit from giving head, and I’m not putting that thing in my mouth unless I get a written fucking guarantee that it’s not going to drop off or explode or give me some life-threatening disease or mutant antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea! ↗

— Amy Lane

#life

Even though sugar was very expensive, people consumed it till their teeth turned black, and if their teeth didn't turn black naturally, they blackened them artificially to show how wealthy and marvelously self-indulgent they were. ↗

— Bill Bryson

#fads #history #sugar #sweet-tooth #why-tanning-is-stupid

Sincere compliments cost nothing and can accomplish so much. In ANY relationship, they are the applause that refreshes. ↗

— Steve Goodier

#encouragement #kindness #relationships #life

When we let go of our battles and open our heart to things as they are, then we come to rest in the present moment. This is the beginning and the end of spiritual practice. Only in this moment can we discover that which is timeless. Only here can we find the love that we seek. Love in the past is simply memory, and love in the future is fantasy. Only in the reality of the present can we love, can we awaken, can we find peace and understanding and connection with ourselves and the world. ↗

— Jack Kornfield

#spirituality #life

Here's one of the things I learned that morning: if you cross a line and nothing happens, the line loses meaning. It's like that old riddle about a tree falling in a forest, and whether it makes a sound if there's no one around to hear it. ↗

— Lauren Oliver

#life

Sometimes I feel as if I'm cursed. A slow, hungry curse that has worked its way across my entire life, stripping me of everything I love. ↗

— Morgan Rhodes

#love #life

Love meant hope. Without love, life held no promise. ↗

— Christie Craig

#life #love #promise #life

When spring knocks at your door, regardless of the time of year or season of our lives, run, do not walk to that door, throw it open with wild abandon, and say, "Yes! Yes, come in! Do me, and do me big! ↗

— Jeffrey R. Anderson

#ecstatic #nature #seasons-of-life #spring #wild-abandon