"We are captives of what we love, what we desire, and what we are."

The Hoopoe, Mahmoud Darwish

"A book is not enough to say:

I find myself present in the fullness o f absence.

Every time I seek my self I find others.

When I look for them, I see only my own strange self.

Am I an individual teeming with crowds?"

-Mahmoud Darwish, Mural

"I do not abandon anyone, but I do not hold the hand of that who wishes to leave"

-Mahmoud Darwish

People think that intimacy is about sex. But intimacy is about truth. When you realize you can tell someone your truth, when you can show yourself to them, when you stand in front of them bare and their response is 'you're safe with me'- that's intimacy.

 Taylor Jenkins Reid, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Marianne, he said, I'm not a religious person but I do sometimes think God made you for me.

Sally Rooney, Normal People

He planted flowers all over my body, inside the cage of my ribs, in the fertile soil of my heart, yet he never noticed how they bloomed just for him.

Giana Darling, Inked in Lies

There was before you and there was during you. For some reason, I never thought there would be an after you. But there was, and I was in it. I'll be in it forever.

Colleen Hoover, Reminders of him

“People say you fall in love, but fall is such a sad word when you think about it. Falls are never good. You fall on the ground, you fall behind, you fall to your death. Whoever was the first person to say they fell in love must have already fallen out of it. Otherwise, they’d have called it something much better.”

 Colleen Hoover, Reminders of Him

“DUM-de, went my trochaic heart.”

My Policeman, Bethan Roberts 

"When life gets you down do you wanna know what you’ve gotta do? . . . Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming"

...

"You can stop swimming now, Lily. We finally reached the shore."

-It ends with us, Colleen Hoover

"He is half of my soul, as the poets say."

-The song of Achilles, Madeline Miller

"Each night before I fall asleep, I make it a point to turn to my wife and silently say "Only you, only ever you". And her love slips quietly around me, holding me, anchoring me, reminding me that the loudest words are the ones we live."

-Archer's voice, Mia Sheridan

"I give myself three more seconds to look at him, and it’s like another punch to the gut. He’s my person. He’s always been my person. My best friend, my confidant, probably the love of my life."

-Love and other words, Christina Lauren

"Maybe some people forgot about me, outgrew me, or never had room for me in the first place.

But I had fucking tried. With all of them. With every single person, I'd put in effort."

-Hands down, Mariana Zapata

"You'll cry tonight. In bed. That's when it'll hurt the most. When you're alone."

All your perfects, Colleen Hoover

"And I promise . . . I swear . . . that if you choose to end things between us, I will love you more as you’re walking out the door than on the day you walked down the aisle. I hope you choose the road that will make you the happiest. Even if it’s not a choice I’ll love, I will still always love you. Whether I’m a part of your life or not. You deserve happiness more than anyone I know. I love you."

-All your perfects, Colleen Hoover

" There wasn't anything wrong with me. I stood up for myself. I stood up for other people. I didn't take shit from others. Was that so wrong? Even Jonathan, my brother, had told me once years ago that if I were a man, no one would think twice about it. People would think that I was some kind of asshole hero with a heart of gold. "

-From Lukov with love, Mariana Zapata