#mm

It was not man who implanted in himself what is infinite and the love of what is immortal: those lofty instincts are not the offspring of his capricious will; their steadfast foundation is fixed in human nature, and they exist in spite of his efforts. He may cross and distort them – destroy them he cannot. The soul wants which must be satisfied; and whatever pains be taken to divert it from itself, it soon grows weary, restless, and disquieted amidst the enjoyments of sense. ↗

— Alexis de Tocqueville

#eternity #immortal #satisfy #love

As I stood in the room looking at it for the last time, I felt again the cold metal of the handcuffs on my wrists and remembered the physical suffering and mental anguish I had endured while fighting with all the willpower and intellect God had given me for that rare and elusive thing in a Communist country called justice. Pg. 351 ↗

— Nien Cheng

#communism #mao #prison #death

But man by his nature is an unnatural animal. If any creature stands a chance of defeating death, it is man. ↗

— Tom Robbins

#immortality #death

I'm supposed to trust you?" "No," he said. He picked up the phone. "Put her sister on." A second later he handed the small silver device to her. Summer felt a second of panic—after all, this tiny piece of metal and circuitry unlocked doors, turned off death traps and blew up houses. God knows what would happen if she pushed the wrong button. ↗

— Anne Stuart

#death

four years, 2 suicides, one death, one rape, 2 pregnancies (one abortion) 3 overdoses, countless drunken antics, pantsings, spilled food, theft, fights, broken limbs, turf wars - every day, a turf war - 6 months until graduation and no one gets a medal when they get out. but everything you do here counts. High school. ↗

— Courtney Summers

#high-school #death

The idea that all souls are mortal is the only notion surely terminating love and all its forms. ↗

— Criss Jami

#atheism #belief #capability #damnation #death

The vampire Dimitri calmly looked up at Reese and smiled. “Commander, everything gets easier over time,” he answered. “Especially if you have all the time that there is. And I do. As a human, you live such a short span of time that you do not learn that life is a continuous battle with one enemy—and that compromise is the only way to ultimately win. Those that do not understand this and think they can control everything; fall to the death of illusion. ↗

— Tony Ruggiero

#death

That's because the International Olympic Committee has a policy of never replacing medals. ↗

— Mary Lou Retton

#committee #international #medals #never #olympic

There is enough said. Trouble no quiet, kind heart; leave sunny imaginations hope. Let it be theirs to conceive the delight of joy born again fresh out of great terror, the rapture of rescue from peril, the wondrous reprieve from dread, the fruition of return. Let them picture union and a happy succeeding life. ↗

— Charlotte Brontë

#emmanuel #happy-endings #hope #love #readers-and-writers

I could not do this, I realized, if I were immortal. This degree of love of life and of one another is granted, I saw for once and for ever, not to immortals, but to those who live briefly and always under the shadow of death and loss. ↗

— Dan Simmons

#death