"He -it- was a specter! I stepped back, stunned."

-- Gail Carson Levine

“Compelling characters are not cogs in the machine of your plot; they are human beings to whom the story happens.”
“You rest now. Rest for longer than you are used to resting. Make a stillness around you, a field of peace. Your best work, the best time of your life will grow out of this peace.”

Source : Peter Heller (2014). “The Painter: A novel”, p.44, Vintage
“How can someone so wonderful do something so terrible?”
“I like the smell of toast. Coffee is okay, but I don't drink much coffee. But toast is a nice smell. You smell some toast coming from your kitchen in the morning, you know that you're involved in a domestic situation and the operation that's going on is pleasant.”
“We are forever looking outside ourselves, seeking approval and striving to impress others. But living to please others is a poor substitute for self-love, for no matter how family and friends may adore us, they can never satisfy our visceral need to love and honor ourselves.”
“Find a nice, self sufficient hilltop, and fortify it.”

Source : John Wyndham (1953). “Out of the Deeps”
“One thought-murder a day keeps the psychiatrist away.”
“Do not follow vain desires; for verily he who prospers is preserved from lust, greed and anger.”

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