#kin

I told Ella Mae Cheeks Johnson, then age 105, that she was the only person over 80 who I'd ever met who never referred to her physical infirmities or health problems. To which she replied, "I have my difficulties; I do not rejoice in them. ↗

— Patricia Mulcahy

#ailments #infirmities #positive-attitude #positive-thinking #survival

Yes, what is it like? Certainly not like she dreamed. But maybe that's okay. We want what we want. At home, she works herself into a frenzy worrying about what she isn't--and perhaps loses track of just where she is. ↗

— Jess Walter

#wants #beauty

Then I’m suddenly reminded of how I get engulfed with nightmares of Mom’s death as soon as I fall asleep. Hesitantly, I call to him, “Hey, Adrian?” “Yeah?” “Can you hold my hand the entire night?” My voice comes out as a quiet whisper. There’s a pause. I’m almost afraid to meet his eyes. Heartbeat picking up faster, his fingers interweave with mine and lace them together. I turn almost reflexively and I’m faced with his eyes—burning so green that it’s hard to look away. And for a second—one second, there is this feeling that flits in my chest, making my breath catch. Then his eyes close and I blink slowly—feeling as I’m in a dream-like trance. Then mine slide close too after a while of memorizing this moment, this moment of silent peacefulness. The gentle pressure of his hand holding mine coaxes me into sleep. This time, there’s only a soothing blankness. And we sleep just like that; backs curved together, my head folded in his chest. As we hold hands, I fall into the awaiting darkness. ↗

— L. Jayne

#distress #heartbreaking #death

Hotel My room's shaped like a cage the sun Put his arm right through the window But I who wish to smoke and dream Use it to light my cigarette I don't want to work I want to smoke ↗

— Apollinaire

#poetry #smoking #dreams

I feel the only thing you can do about life is to preserve it, by art if you're an artist, by children if you're not. ↗

— Philip Larkin

#children #letters-to-monica #philip-larkin #poem #poet

Dreaming is another form of thinking, more concrete, more economical, more visual, and often more emotional than the thoughts of the day, but a thinking through of the day, nevertheless. ↗

— Siri Hustvedt

#dreams #thinking #dreams

Waking up to a smell is a lot more satisfying than waking up to a noise. Instead of barging in uninvited and yanking you out into reality, smells enter your dreams with a silent knock and a polite "Excuse me? ↗

— Adi Alsaid

#waking-up #dreams

Those who desire to rise as high as our human condition allows, must renounce intellectual pride, the omnipotence of clear thinking, belief in the absolute power of logic. ↗

— Alexis Carrel

#absolute #absolute power #allows #belief #clear

Comforts and syphilis are the greatest enemies of mankind. ↗

— Alexis Carrel

#greatest #mankind #syphilis

I had a dream, which seemed so real, I was King of the world, so full of appeal, Upon waking I found I wasn't alone, In a kingdom called Home, sitting on a throne. ↗

— Omar Kiam

#your-home-is-your-kingdom #dreams