Stephen Crane · 92 pages
Rating: (6.5K votes)
“The man had arrived at that stage of drunkenness where affection is felt for the universe.”
― Stephen Crane, quote from Maggie: A Girl of the Streets
“The girl, Maggie, blossomed in a mud puddle.”
― Stephen Crane, quote from Maggie: A Girl of the Streets
“To her the earth was composed of hardships and insults. She felt instant admiration for a man who openly defied it. She thought that if the grim angel of death should clutch his heart, Pete would shrug his shoulders and say, "Oh, ev'ryt'ing goes."
She anticipated that he would come again shortly. She spent some of her week's pay in the purchase of flowered cretonne for a lambrequin. She made it with infinite care, and hung it to the slightly careening mantel over the stove in the kitchen. She studied it with painful anxiety from different points in the room. She wanted it to look well on Sunday night when, perhaps, Jimmie's friend would come. On Sunday night, however, Pete did not appear.
Afterwards the girl looked at it with a sense of humiliation. She was now convinced that Pete was superior to admiration for lambrequins.”
― Stephen Crane, quote from Maggie: A Girl of the Streets
“Nevertheless, he had, on a certain star-lit evening, said wonderingly and quite reverently: "Deh moon looks like hell, don't it?”
― Stephen Crane, quote from Maggie: A Girl of the Streets
“She thinks my name is Freddie, you know, but of course it ain't. I
always tell these people some name like that, because if they got onto
your right name they might use it sometime. Understand?”
― Stephen Crane, quote from Maggie: A Girl of the Streets
“Formidable women, with uncombed hair and disordered dress, gossiped while leaning on railings, or screamed in frantic quarrels.”
― Stephen Crane, quote from Maggie: A Girl of the Streets
“knew. Ray was the epitome of what”
― Angela Marsons, quote from Evil Games
“She could see it surprised him, too, sometimes. He told her once when there was a storm a bird had flown into the house. He’d never seen one like it. The wind must have carried it in from some far-off place. He opened all the doors and windows, but it was so desperate to escape that for a while it couldn’t find a way out. “It left a blessing in the house,” he said. “The wildness of it. Bringing the wind inside.”
― Marilynne Robinson, quote from Lila
“Havel had said that people struggling for independence wanted money and recognition from other countries; they wanted more criticism of the Soviet empire from the West and more diplomatic pressure. But Havel had said that these were things they wanted; the only thing they needed was hope. Not that pie in the sky stuff, not a preference for optimism over pessimism, but rather “an orientation of the spirit.” The kind of hope that creates a willingness to position oneself in a hopeless place and be a witness, that allows one to believe in a better future, even in the face of abusive power. That kind of hope makes one strong.”
― Bryan Stevenson, quote from Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
“Now stop fucking around and look at the fishies. You know you want to.”
― Stephen King, quote from End of Watch
“There were so many desperate people on the streets crying for help that you had to shut off your heart or the pain would be too much. After a while you don't care anymore. And that is what hell is like.”
― Yeonmi Park, quote from In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom
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