143
" Much, maybe too much, has been written about literature. (I know better than anyone; I’m an expert in the field). Yet the special thing about literature, the major art form of a Western civilization now ending before our very eyes, is not hard to define. Like literature, music can overwhelm you with sudden emotion, can move you to absolute sorrow or ecstasy; like literature, painting has the power to astonish, and to make you see the world through fresh eyes. But only literature can put you in touch with another human spirit, as a whole, with all its weaknesses and grandeurs, it limitations, its pettinesses, its obsessions, its beliefs; with whatever it finds moving, interesting, exciting, or repugnant. Only literature can grant you access to a spirit from beyond the grave–a more direct, more complete, deeper access than you’d have in conversation with a friend. Even in our deepest, most lasting friendships, we never speak so openly as when we face a blank page and address an unknown reader. "
― Michel Houellebecq
146
" I don’t know: perhaps it’s a dream, all a dream. (That would surprise me.) I’ll wake, in the silence, and never sleep again. (It will be I?) Or dream (dream again), dream of a silence, a dream silence, full of murmurs (I don’t know, that’s all words), never wake (all words, there’s nothing else).
You must go on, that’s all I know.
They’re going to stop, I know that well: I can feel it. They’re going to abandon me. It will be the silence, for a moment (a good few moments). Or it will be mine? The lasting one, that didn’t last, that still lasts? It will be I?
You must go on.
I can’t go on.
You must go on.
I’ll go on. You must say words, as long as there are any - until they find me, until they say me. (Strange pain, strange sin!) You must go on. Perhaps it’s done already. Perhaps they have said me already. Perhaps they have carried me to the threshold of my story, before the door that opens on my story. (That would surprise me, if it opens.)
It will be I? It will be the silence, where I am? I don’t know, I’ll never know: in the silence you don’t know.
You must go on.
I can’t go on.
I’ll go on. "
― Samuel Beckett , The Unnamable
153
" So, are there other paths, lifestyles or value systems to consider? Of course, there are plenty. I suggest one alternative here: a meditative life centred on God, which means to have Him in mind in our thoughts, words and deeds as much as we humanly can. And that is where ‘God-centred meditation’ comes in. Simply put, God plays the central role in my perspective on life and in my meditation philosophy and techniques. I believe that unless we connect to God through His Name and His life-giving, transformative Word found in the primary sources of the world’s great religions, we will not experience true, lasting joy and peace in life. "
― , The Divine Art Of Meditation: Meditation and visualization techniques for a healthy mind, body and soul
159
" Lady Linnea said,
“I don’t think you understand the balance of relationships. They are give-and-take.Gemma is my best friend,Gemma has my loyalty because she’s earned it, and I have Gemma’s trust because I’ve earned it.”
She tilted her head and studied Prince Toril with pursed lips.
“It takes work to build a lasting relationship, My Lord. You cannot expect someone to give you their everything just because.”
“I don’t think I understand,” Prince Toril said.
Lady Linnea said, stopping their stroll down the hallway.
“Allow me to rephrase it. A friendship is filled only with as much love as YOU give. Gemma has my heart because I chose to give it to her. And my choice paid off, because there is no one in this horrible, tattered world that I trust more than Gemma Kielland. And so we are two best friends, walking together to achieve what neither of us could do alone. Do you understand it now? "
― K.M. Shea , Rumpelstiltskin (Timeless Fairy Tales, #4)