“I recall his somber eyes during that last, private conversation. His eyes and his words, far too wise for a boy of ten: only time will tell, Lia.
In the end, I suppose it will.”
― Michelle Zink, quote from Prophecy of the Sisters
“I avoid looking at the clock, fearing the slow passing of time that will only seem slower if I watch its progress.”
― Michelle Zink, quote from Prophecy of the Sisters
“I love you anyway, Lia," he calls after me. "Until time tells, I mean."
I turn to him and smile, loving him more in this moment than any other. "Until time tells, then, Henry, and beyond. I love you as well.”
― Michelle Zink, quote from Prophecy of the Sisters
“I shake my head. "Remember, Mother. There are no mistakes."
She smiles through her tears, leaning in to kiss my cheek "No mistakes, my angel.”
― Michelle Zink, quote from Prophecy of the Sisters
“Its emptiness is more than the lack of living, breathing beings. It is the unread pages of the many books that reside on the shelves throughout the room I should hot have thought one could tell when books have gone unread, but after the company of Birchwood's well-loved library it is as if I can hear these books whispering, their pages grasping and reaching for an audience.”
― Michelle Zink, quote from Prophecy of the Sisters
“Pero no puedo dejar de pensar, no puedo detener el movimiento del engranaje de todo cuanto he aprendido. Dejo que mi mente se pasee por la oscuridad”
― Michelle Zink, quote from Prophecy of the Sisters
“A veces los árboles nos impiden ver el bosque”
― Michelle Zink, quote from Prophecy of the Sisters
“Зелените ми очи са бездънни и празни и аз се питам дали е възможно човек да се променя отвътре навън, дали тъгата може да се излъчва през вените, органите и кожата, така че всички да я виждат.”
― Michelle Zink, quote from Prophecy of the Sisters
“To find the books end,
cross the ancient wood to the mystic isle.
Until then, prepare yourself
for the coming battle. . .
AND TRUST NO ONE.”
― Michelle Zink, quote from Prophecy of the Sisters
“The blackness that smothers me is total, and in the moment before everything falls away, I know what it feels like to be dead.”
― Michelle Zink, quote from Prophecy of the Sisters
“There is no ladylike way to tell him to push all he wants, that his mouth and body on mine are the only things keeping me from losing my hold on a reality I never questioned until these past days.”
― Michelle Zink, quote from Prophecy of the Sisters
“The day is like a diamond, all beautiful warmth on the outside but without any heat to accompany it.”
― Michelle Zink, quote from Prophecy of the Sisters
“Perhaps because it seems so appropriate, I don’t notice the rain.”
― Michelle Zink, quote from Prophecy of the Sisters
“[A Chinese Restaurant.] Roma is seated alone at the booth.Lingk is at the booth next to him.Roma is talking to him.
* * *
Roma: . . . Eh? What I’m saying, what is our life? (Pause.) It’s looking forward or it’s looking back. And that’s our life. That’s it. Where is the moment? (Pause.) And what is it that we’re afraid of? Loss. What else? (Pause.) The bank closes. We get sick, my wife died on a plane, the stock market collapsed . . . the house burnt down . . . what of these happen . . . ? None of ’em. We worry anyway. What does this mean? I’m not secure. How can I be secure? (Pause.) Through amassing wealth beyond all measure? No. And what’s beyond all measure? That’s a sickness. That’s a trap. There is no measure. Only greed. How can we act? The right way, we would say, to deal with this: “There is a one-in-a million chance that so and so will happen. . . . Fuck it, it won’t happen to me. . . .” No. We know that’s not the right way I think. (Pause.) We say the correct way to deal with this is “There is a one-in-so-and-so chance that this will happen . . . God protect me. I am powerless, let it not happen to me. . . .” But no to that. I say. There’s something else. What is it? “If it happens, AS IT MAY for that is not within our powers, I will deal with it, just as I do today with what draws my concern today.” I say this is how we must act. I do those things which seem correct to me today. I trust myself. And if security concerns me, I do that which today I think will make me secure. And every day I do that, when that day arrives that I need a reserve, (a) odds are that I have it, and (b) the true reserve that I have is the strength that I have of acting each day without fear. (Pause.) According to the dictates of my mind. (Pause.)”
― David Mamet, quote from Glengarry Glen Ross
“غيري يكتب كما يتكلم ، و أنا أكتب كما ألتزم الصمت”
― Amin Maalouf, quote from Balthasar's Odyssey
“Taking Off Emily Dickinson’s Clothes
First, her tippet made of tulle,
easily lifted off her shoulders and laid
on the back of a wooden chair.
And her bonnet,
the bow undone with a light forward pull.
Then the long white dress, a more
complicated matter with mother-of-pearl
buttons down the back,
so tiny and numerous that it takes forever
before my hands can part the fabric,
like a swimmer’s dividing water,
and slip inside.
You will want to know
that she was standing
by an open window in an upstairs bedroom,
motionless, a little wide-eyed,
looking out at the orchard below,
the white dress puddled at her feet
on the wide-board, hardwood floor.
The complexity of women’s undergarments
in nineteenth-century America
is not to be waved off,
and I proceeded like a polar explorer
through clips, clasps, and moorings,
catches, straps, and whalebone stays,
sailing toward the iceberg of her nakedness.
Later, I wrote in a notebook
it was like riding a swan into the night,
but, of course, I cannot tell you everything—
the way she closed her eyes to the orchard,
how her hair tumbled free of its pins,
how there were sudden dashes
whenever we spoke.
What I can tell you is
it was terribly quiet in Amherst
that Sabbath afternoon,
nothing but a carriage passing the house,
a fly buzzing in a windowpane.
So I could plainly hear her inhale
when I undid the very top
hook-and-eye fastener of her corset
and I could hear her sigh when finally it was unloosed,
the way some readers sigh when they realize
that Hope has feathers,
that Reason is a plank,
that Life is a loaded gun
that looks right at you with a yellow eye.”
― Billy Collins, quote from Picnic, Lightning
“What all the ads and whorescopes seemed to imply was that if only you took proper care of your smells, your hair, your boobs, your eyelashes, your armpits, your crotch, your stars, your scars, your choice of Scotch in bars - you would meet a beautiful powerful, potent, and rich man who would satisfy every longing, fill every hole, make your heart skip a beat (or stand still), make you misty, and fly you to the moon (preferably on gossamer wings), where you would live totally satisfied forever.”
― Erica Jong, quote from Fear of Flying
“She couldn’t run away from him. She’d be running from her own heart.”
― Kerrelyn Sparks, quote from All I Want for Christmas is a Vampire
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