#par

When we got to the part where we had to improvise an argument in a poetic language, I got cold feet. "I can't do this," I said. "I don't know what to say." "Say anything," he said. "You can't make a mistake when you improvise." "What if I mess it up? What if I screw up the rhythm?" "You can't," he said. "It's like drumming. If you miss a beat, you create another." In this simple exchange, Sam taught me the secret of improvisation, one that I have accessed my whole life. ↗

— Patti Smith

#playwriting #sam-shepard #life

A party of order or stability, and a party of progress or reform, are both necessary elements of a healthy state of political life. ↗

— John Stuart Mill

#elements #healthy #life #necessary #order

Certainly paradise, whatever, wherever it be, contains flaws. (Paradisical flaws, if you like.) If it did not, it would be incapable of drawing the hearts of men or angels. ↗

— Henry Miller

#life #paradise #spain #life

Life is like a box of Hand grenades,You never know what will blow you to kingdom come ↗

— Mario Puzo

#paraphrased #simile #life

We all have the best laid plans for our children, and they go and ruin it all by growing up any way they want to. What the hell was it all for, then? (Real Life and Liars) ↗

— Kristina Riggle

#fiction #life #mothers #parenting #poignant

She touched something deep in his soul. He didn't believe in love at first sight, but the thought of hurting her made his chest ache. ↗

— Jodie B. Cooper

#love #paranormal-romance #sidhi #soul-mate #teen

This piece of rudeness was more than Alice could bear: she got up in great disgust, and walked off; the Dormouse fell asleep instantly, and neither of the others took the least notice of her going, though she looked back once or twice, half hoping that they would call after her: the last time she saw them, they were trying to put the Dormouse into the teapot. At any rate I'll never go THERE again!' said Alice as she picked her way through the wood. "It's the stupidest tea-party I ever was at in all my life! ↗

— Lewis Carroll

#life

The mother gazes at the baby in her arms, and the baby gazes at his mother's face and finds himself therein... provided that the mother is really looking at the unique, small, helpless being and not projecting her own expectations, fears, and plans for the child. In that case, the child would find not himself in his mother's face, but rather the mother's own projections. This child would remain without a mirror, and for the rest of his life would be seeking this mirror in vain. ↗

— Donald Woods Winnicott

#parenting #life

To know of the existence of evil, true evil that corrupted the world, had forever altered her heart and mind. If she had chosen a different path, she wouldn't have slept another night. Her head would have been restless as she thought only of the horrors that might be creeping outside her door, waiting to rend her flesh. She would not live a life as the hunted; she would be the hunter. ↗

— Andrea Cremer

#rift #young-adult #life

They say that right before you die your whole life flashes before you – a medley of your own personal greatest hits. Well then, I must be about to live, because events that haven’t happened yet are constantly pushing themselves into my head. ↗

— Emlyn Chand

#fiction #paranormal #psychic-powers #ya #yalit