“Her husband had archaic ideas about jewels; a man bought them for his wife in acknowledgement of things he could not gracefully utter.”
― Willa Cather, quote from A Lost Lady
“He came to be very glad that he had known her, and that she had had a hand in breaking him in to life. He has known pretty women and clever ones since then,-- but never one like her, as she was in her best days. Her eyes, when they laughed for a moment into one`s own, seemed to promise a wild delight that he has not found in life. "I know where it is," they seemed to say, "I could show you!”
― Willa Cather, quote from A Lost Lady
“Oh, but it is bleak!” she murmured. “Suppose we should have to stay here all next winter, too,… and the next! What will become of me, Niel?” There was fear, unmistakable fright in her voice. “You see there is nothing for me to do. I get no exercise. I don’t skate; we didn’t in California, and my ankles are weak. I’ve always danced in the winter, there’s plenty of dancing at Colorado Springs. You wouldn’t believe how I miss it. I shall dance till I’m eighty.… I’ll be the waltzing grandmother! It’s good for me, I need it.” They”
― Willa Cather, quote from A Lost Lady
“I could feel his heart pump and his muscles strain," she said, "when he balanced himself and me on the rocks. I knew that if we fell, we’d go together; he would never drop me".”
― Willa Cather, quote from A Lost Lady
“Niel felt tonight that the right man could still save her, even now. She was still her own indomitable self, going through her old part,--but only the stage hands were left to listen to her. All those who had shared in fine undertakings and bright occasions were gone.”
― Willa Cather, quote from A Lost Lady
“. . . she had always the power of suggesting things much lovelier than herself, as the perfume of a single flower may call up the whole sweetness of spring.”
― Willa Cather, quote from A Lost Lady
“She throws away the inedible toast and looks at me, her blue eyes sad. “I'm a bad cook.”
My first inclination is to say, “You're just realizing this now?”, but I don't. Instead I shrug. “You're good at a lot of other things.”
“I can't crochet either.”
I purse my lips to keep from agreeing. “Well...you—”
“And I can't sing. I don't even remember the shade of my natural hair color and I've had this outfit since the eighties.”
I glance at her red top and tan pants. Yeah. Those should really go—along with a lot of other things in the house. “You're sort of making it hard for me to make you feel better when you keep tossing all the things you aren't good at, at me.” I brighten. “You can dance! You're a great dancer.”
“I'm having a mid-life crisis.”
“You're forty-six,” I scoff. “You're too young for that. I mean, maybe in four years...”
― Lindy Zart, quote from Roomies
“You always make me get so fuckin’ emotional. I’d get my ass beat if anyone saw me the way I am with you.”
― Riley Hart, quote from Broken Pieces
“Always ask why. It’s not enough to know the what of something.”
― Brian McClellan, quote from The Autumn Republic
“Of course, these women ought to have listened when he told them he wasn't looking for anything serious. But on a certain level, it didn't really matter if it was stupid of them. Ethical people don't take advantage of other people's weakness; that's like being a slumlord or a price gouger. And treading on weakness is exactly what dating felt like, with so many of these women--with their wide-open hopefulness, their hunger for connection and blithe assumption that men wanted it just as badly.”
― Adelle Waldman, quote from The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.
“It’s like my dear old MeeMaw always says, ‘You can’t bullshit a bullshitter.”
― Leah Rae Miller, quote from The Summer I Became a Nerd
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