I have an idea that the only thing which makes it possible to regard this world we live in without disgust is the beauty which now and then men create out of the chaos. The pictures they paint, the music they compose, the books they write, and the lives they lead. Of all these the richest in beauty is the beautiful life. That is the perfect work of art. W. Somerset Maugham, The Painted Veil
You might as well ask an artist to explain his art, or ask a poet to explain his poem. It defeats the purpose. The meaning is only clear thorough the search. Rick Riordan
It is certainly true that all beliefs and all myths are worthy of a respectful hearing. It is not true that all folk beliefs are equally valid – if we’re talking not about an internal mindset, but about understanding of the external reality. Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
mist rising
You call a star a star, and say it is just a ball of matter moving on a mathematical course. But that is merely how you see it. By so naming things and describing them you are only inventing your own terms about them. And just as speech is invention about objects and ideas, so myth is invention about truth. Humphrey Carpenter, J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography
Writing is a job, a talent, but it’s also the place to go in your head. It is the imaginary friend you drink your tea with in the afternoon. Ann Patchett, Truth & Beauty
First forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you’re inspired or not. Habit will help you finish and polish your stories. Inspiration won’t. Habit is persistence in practice. Octavia Butler, Bloodchild and Other Stories
This tremendous world I have inside of me. How to free myself, and this world, without tearing myself to pieces. And rather tear myself to a thousand pieces than be buried with this world within me. Kafka Franz, Diaries, 1910-1923
Writing a novel is a terrible experience, during which the hair often falls out and the teeth decay. I’m always irritated by people who imply that writing fiction is an escape from reality. It is a plunge into reality and it’s very shocking to the system. Flannery O’Connor, Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose
I’m rarely in the mood for love poems, so here is some inspiration filled with intrigue and retribution. Revenge by Letitia Elizabeth Landon is a classic poem in which the narrator delights in the future pain of a former flame who has broken her heart. In a modern take, Mikey Cyrus’s Flowers let’s a former lover know that she can treat herself better then they ever could. The song and music video have become notorious for Easter egg allusions to her marriage with ex-husband Liam Hemsworth. RevengeBY LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDONAy, gaze upon her rose-wreathed hair,And gaze upon her smile;Seem as you drank the very airHer breath perfumed the while: And wake for her the gifted line,That wild and witching lay,And swear your heart is as a shrine,That only owns her sway. ’Tis well: I am revenged at last,—Mark you that scornful cheek,—The eye averted as you pass’d,Spoke more than words could speak. Ay, now by all the bitter tearsThat I have shed for thee,—The racking doubts, the burning fears,—Avenged they well may be— By the …
Everyday Strange 