Joy Gillespie

“Are we going to win the war?' asks Claudia.
'Yes, I assume so. Not because of the Lord's intervention or because justice will prevail but because in the last resort we have greater resources. Wars have little to do with justice. Or valour or sacrifice or the other things traditionally associated with them. That's one thing I hadn't quite realised. War has been misrepresented, believe me. It's had a disgracefully good press. I hope you and your friends are doing something so put that right.'
'I hope we are too,' says Claudia.”
― Penelope Lively, Moon Tiger

“What redemption there is in being loved: we are always our best selves when loved by another. Nothing can replace this.”
― Maggie O'Farrell

“Was I better? Before Shropshire I'd felt broken, as though I would fall should the scaffold of my work be removed. I didn't feel that now, but there was a fine crack through the middle of me, and I suspected it might never mend. I remembered Lizzie apologising to Mrs Lloyd the first time she stayed to chat, for the chip in the cup. 'A chip doesn't stop it from holding tea,' Mrs Lloyd had said.”
― Pip Williams, The Dictionary of Lost Words

“Maybe it is just easier to focus on life’s trivial missteps when the real challenges feel so insurmountable. But by doing this aren’t we also exhausting ourselves on petty grievances and leaving nothing in the tank for the real issues?”
― Ashley Dotty Charles