Vladimir Nabokov, lectures on don quixote (1952)

Evening coffee and a book

by etheroorb

art republished with artist’s permission

— m.r.

ALT

James Tate, “Stray Animals”

And sometimes I have kept my feelings to myself, because I could find no language to describe them in.

Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility

"No one will know the violence it took to become this gentle"

Some of us grew up in bad households and unstable environments, were reminded of the big hard world way too many times. Most of us have seen the ugliest side of things. The hurt, the pain, the loss. To see all of that and still choose to be soft. To open your heart, be forgiving, gentle and accepting over and over again takes so much courage. And how unfair. It is so unfair you were not shown those things and yet you are doing it anyway. To mold yourself into something soft after rolling around in glass, that is a different kind of bravery.

To teach yourself something you never knew AND show up for that. You are amazing. You are strong and you are so so brave.