the chaos of stars

"I didn’t fall in love with you. I walked into love with you, with my eyes wide open, choosing to take every step along the way. I do believe in fate and destiny. But I also believe we are only fated to do the things that we’d choose anyway. And I’d choose you—in a hundred lifetimes, in a hundred worlds, in any version of reality, I’d find you and I’d choose you."

—The Chaos of Stars; Kiersten White

the diary of frida kahlo

“I used to think I was the strangest person in the world. But then I thought, there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her, and imagine that she must be out there thinking of me too. Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it's true, I'm here, and I'm just as strange as you.”

―The Diary of Frida Kahlo; Frida Kahlo

the seed, the soil

“I like to write. I like to choose the right word, I like to write the right sentence. It’s just like gardening or something. You put the seed into the soil at the right time, in the right place.”

—The Guardian; Haruki Murakami

fall on your knees

"Dark and sweet, the elixir of love is in her mouth. The more I drink, the more I remember all the things we've never done. I was a ghost until I touched you. Never swallowed mortal food until I tasted you, never understood the spoken word until I found your tongue. I've been a sleep-walker, sad somnambula, hands outstretched to strike the solid thing that could awaken me to life at last. I have only ever stood here under this lamp, against your body. I've missed you all my life."

—Fall On Your Knees; Ann-Marie MacDonald

of literature

"When I look back, I am so impressed again with the life-giving power of literature. If I were a young person today, trying to gain a sense of myself in the world, I would do that again by reading, just as I did when I was young."

—Maya Angelou