#war

It often seems to me that art conceals the artist far more completely than it ever reveals him. ↗

— Oscar Wilde

#basil-hallward #art

You own me with whispers like poetry. Your mouth is a melody I memorize. ↗

— The Civil Wars

#lyrics #poetry #song #the-civil-wars #the-tip-of-my-tongue

He'd say "I love you" to every man in the squad before rolling out, say it straight, with no joking or smart-ass lilt and no warbly Christian smarm in it either, just that brisk declaration like he was tightening the seat belts around everyone's soul. ↗

— Ben Fountain

#war #love

I'm Level Eighty on Warcraft." The clerk was stunned. "You're Level Eighty?! Are you Horde, or Alliance?" "What, are you kidding me? I'm Horde, of course! I'm a Level Eighty Undead Priestess. What Guild are you in?" "I'm a Horde Blood Elf Paladin. Level 30. I'm in the Blood Roses Guild." "Have you ever seen a 'Spectral Tiger' loot card? I bet you never have." The museum clerk thought about her situation. The psychic pressure was mounting on her. She was in a state of moral anguish. "Look, Signora, I'd love to help your American clients there... But if my director knew I was Warcrafting here at work, she'd kill me! Besides, you don't have any 'Spectral Tiger' in your purse, I bet. ↗

— Bruce Sterling

#horde #videogames #warcraft #love

You have known, O Gilgamesh, What interests me, To drink from the Well of Immortality. Which means to make the dead Rise from their graves And the prisoners from their cells The sinners from their sins. I think love's kiss kills our heart of flesh. It is the only way to eternal life, Which should be unbearable if lived Among the dying flowers And the shrieking farewells Of the overstretched arms of our spoiled hopes. ↗

— Herbert Mason

#verse #warm-bodies #life

War had the effect of encouraging people to try to stay alive. Poverty, too. Survival was simply too hard-won to be given up lightly. ↗

— Aminatta Forna

#survival #war #love

Having been to war myself, I do not understand why so many people are so in love with it. ↗

— Michel Templet

#pacifism #war #love

Be cautious not to utter a syllable! Step not out of the circle, and as you love yourself, dare not to look upon my face! ↗

— Matthew Gregory Lewis

#warning #warnings #love

Mmm.” The vibration in his chest pressed against her back shot sparks of hot lust through her. “I love you this way.” He guided his erection to nudge her entrance. “I love you every way.” Katya smiled and pushed back against him. “I love you, too. ↗

— Bonnie Dee

#katya #the-warrior-s-gift #turan #love

For after all, why do we go on fighting? If we die for democracy then we must be one of the democracies. Let the rest fight with us, if that is the case. But the most powerful of them, the only one that could save us, chooses to bide its time. Very good. That is its right. But by so doing, that democracy signifies that we are fighting for ourselves alone. And we go on fighting despite the assurance that we have lost the war. Why, then, do we go on dying? Out of despair? But there is no despair. You know nothing about defeat if you think there is room in it for despair. There is a verity that is higher than the pronouncements of the intelligence. There is a thing which pierces and governs us and which cannot be grasped by the intelligence. A tree has no language. We are a tree. There are truths which are evident, though not to be put into words. I do not die in order to obstruct the path of the invasion, for there is no shelter upon which I can fall back with those I love. I do not die to preserve my honor, since I deny that my honor is at stake, and I challenge the jurisdiction of my judge. Nor do I die out of desperation. ↗

— Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

#despair #war #intelligence