#tens

I was utterly convinced that an intellectual could never be anything but an intellectual, was simply not capable of being anything else, that his intellectuality would, sooner or later, erode his faith or erode whatever he'd masked it with . . . For example, intellectuals like to dress themselves up as peasants . . . but it never works. The intellectual's constitution is impervious to such things - it permits only one object of worship - oneself. Generally speaking, an intellectual in the contemporary version is an exceptionally resourceful and, essentially, pitiful being. ↗

— Leonid Borodin

#intellectualism #intellectuals #posturing #pretense #faith

I'll tell you what's wrong!" he roared, "I'm trying to quit smoking!" Then he strode angrily to the truck, leaving her standing there. She blinked her eyes, and slowly a smile stretched her lips. She strolled to the truck and got in. "So, are you homicidal or merely as irritable as a wounded buffalo?" "About halfway in between," he said through clenched teeth. "Anything I can do to help?" His eyes were narrow and intense. "It isn't just the cigarettes. Take off your panties and lock your legs around me, and I'll show you. ↗

— Linda Howard

#cigarettes #quit-smoking #tension #family

Germans grew reluctant to stay in communal ski lodges, fearing they might talk in their sleep. They postponed surgeries because of the lip-loosening effects of anesthetic. Dreams reflected the ambient anxiety. One German dreamed that an SA man came to his home and opened the door to his oven, which then repeated every negative remark the household had made against the government. ↗

— Erik Larson

#fear #germany #nazis #paranoia #tension

When you're going bad, sometimes you need to relax more. I've always been intense. I didn't need to be more intense. ↗

— Brady Anderson

#bad #been #going #i #intense

Simply touching a difficult memory with some slight willingness to heal begins to soften the holding and tension around it. (74) ↗

— Stephen Levine

#grief #healing #healing-the-past #memory #tension

Holding on to anger, resentment and hurt only gives you tense muscles, a headache and a sore jaw from clenching your teeth. Forgiveness gives you back the laughter and the lightness in your life. ↗

— Joan Lunden

#back #forgiveness #gives #headache #holding

Once again, I think there is little art being done that really owns up to such intense possibilities. ↗

— Peter Sotos

#art #being #being done #done #i

I cannot encourage any fabrication even for the sake of making people feel good. If I were to fabricate consciously and knowingly, I would not only be ordaining myself their enemy, but also ordaining myself God's enemy. ↗

— Criss Jami

#christianity #enemies #fabrications #facts #flattery

We are more disturbed by a calamity which threatens us than by one which has befallen us. ↗

— John Lancaster Spalding

#disturbed #more #than #threatens #us

I’ve come to ask you where Seth is.” "Funny,” said Andrea. “We were going to ask you the same thing.” I was taken aback. “How would I know?” They both just stared. "I don’t! ↗

— Richelle Mead

#georgina-kincaid #terry-mortensen #funny