#ii

That is the way we decided to talk, free and easy, two young men discussing a boxing match. That was the only way to talk. You couldn't let too much truth seep into your conversation, you couldn't admit with your mouth what your eyes had seen. If you opened the door even a centimeter, you would smell the rot outside and hear the screams. You did not open the door. You kept your mind on the tasks of the day, the hunt for food and water and something to burn, and you saved the rest for the end of the war. ↗

— David Benioff

#history #inspirational #jewish #jews #pessimism

[...] during one train stop, I watched as another guard with a spirit of empathy, ran out into an apple orchard and picked apples. He carried his jacket like a bag and filled it with apples. The kind German came to our open train window and handed us each an apple. The juicy apple tasted so delicious. I so appreciated that apple and his unusual compassion. ↗

— Oliver Omanson

#food-shortage #nazis #prisoner-of-war #world-war-ii #food

To build up a library is to create a life. It's never just a random collection of books. ↗

— Carlos María Domínguez

#bibliophiila #book-collecting #books #collection #libraries

Jane," I said quietly. She opened her eyes, she had been far away in prayer. "Yes, Mary? Forgive me, I was praying." "If you go on flirting with the king with those sickly little smiles, one of us Boleyns is going to scratch your eyes out. ↗

— Philippa Gregory

#henry-viii #jane-seymour #mary-boleyn #threat #forgiveness

Morale was deteriorating and it was all Yossarian's fault. The country was in peril; he was jeopardizing his traditional rights of freedom and independence by daring to exercise them. ↗

— Joseph Heller

#ironic #rights #war #wwii #yossarian

Sometimes thought Liir-his first thought in weeks and weeks-sometimes I hate this marvelous land of ours. It's so much like home, and then it holds out on you. ↗

— Gregory Maguire

#gregory #liir #maguire #of #son

The problem with winter sports is that -- follow me closely here -- they generally take place in winter. ↗

— Dave Barry

#humor #ice-fishing #ice-skating #skiing #snow-camping

Why are there interstate highways in Hawaii? ↗

— Steven Wright

#humor

Wii Sports: All the frustration of real sports with out the physical exercise. ↗

— Felix Harneis

#humor #physical-exercise #sports #wii #humor

She imagined she could pull Time like taffy, stretching it longer and longer between her hands until the finest point had been reached, the point just before breaking, and she could live there. A point at the center of time with no going forward, no going back. Clasped in this way, without speaking, walking into no discernible ending, she could almost believe they tread on time. ↗

— Sarah Blake

#stopping-time #ww-ii #imagination