#reservation

The object of war is victory; that of victory is conquest; and that of conquest preservation. ↗

— Charles de Secondat

#object #preservation #victory #war

People ask me, 'What do you do?' And I tell them I'm a writer, but always with the silent reservation, 'I am, of course, not really a writer. Hemingway was a writer.' ↗

— David Mamet

#am #ask #course #hemingway #i

When the first of us failed at growing or herding or plowing the fields, we were told that we could sign a piece of paper and get money for the land, without anyone taking it. Mortgage, this was called, a piece of banker’s cleverness that sounded good to many. I spoke against this trick, but who listened to Nanapush? People signed the paper, got money, came home night after night full of whiskey and food. Suddenly the foreclosure notices were handed out and the land was barred. It belonged to someone else. ↗

— Louise Erdrich

#food

What do you see when you look at me?” My eyes narrowed and I pressed my lips together, weighing my thoughts. All of his bimbo admirers aside, what did I see? What did my gut tell me about this man? What did it say that allowed me to wind up here with him, under such impulsive circumstances? “You’re a sad man,” I swallowed. “You’re arrogant and set in your ways, but that creates a fortress for you. It’s your safe haven. Behind the moat is someone who has lost something he loved, only I’m not sure what, or who. You’re afraid of something and your loyalty is hidden away in a cell, wounded by betrayal.” I rested my head on the pillow. “That’s what I see.” “On second thought,” he exhaled, letting his head drop next to mine. “You’re psychic. ↗

— Rachael Wade

#instinct #kate #love #perception #preservation

She didn’t dare expose her heart the way she’d exposed her body. ↗

— Nicki Elson

#seduction #self-preservation #sex #love

The faithful clamoured to be buried alongside the martyrs, as close as possible to the venerable remains, a custom which, in anthropological terms, recalls Neolithic beliefs that certain human remains possessed supernatural properties. It was believed that canonized saints did not rot, like lesser mortals, but that their corpses were miraculously preserved and emanated an odour of sanctity, a sweet, floral smell, for years after death. In forensic terms, such preservation is likely to be a result of natural mummification in hot, dry conditions. ↗

— Catharine Arnold

#death #martyrs #preservation #saints #sanctity

When we quit thinking primarily about ourselves and our own self-preservation, we undergo a truly heroic transformation of consciousness. ↗

— Joseph Campbell

#consciousness #heroic #our #ourselves #own

I have long been active in and supportive of conservation and historical preservation causes. ↗

— Jack L. Chalker

#been #causes #conservation #historical #i

My sense is that the majority of Conservatives share my reservations about how we got into Iraq. ↗

— Kenneth Clarke

#conservatives #got #how #into #iraq

From the long range point of view, I do not know of anything we can do more important than to make some contribution to the preservation of religion as a vital force in America. ↗

— Louis Finkelstein

#anything #contribution #force #i #i do