Thomas Kanyak

“Lady Houston, as she was now called, was reputedly the wealthiest woman in Great Britain, a dedicated nudist who, when appearing at social functions, draped herself in diamonds and furs. Once, in a squabble over back taxes, she personally presented Winston Churchill, then the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with a check for one and a half million pounds. “Do I get a kiss?” she asked. “No,” he growled back. “You get a cup of tea.”
― Scott Ellsworth, The World Beneath Their Feet: Mountaineering, Madness, and the Deadly Race to Summit the Himalayas

“I am always saddened by the death of a good person. It is from this sadness that a feeling of gratitude emerges. I feel honored to have known them and blessed that their passing serves as a reminder to me that my time on this beautiful earth is limited and that I should seize the opportunity I have to forgive, share, explore, and love. I can think of no greater way to honor the deceased than to live this way.”
― Steve Maraboli

“When Lady Ann Sercomb married George Smiley towards the end of the war she described him to her astonished Mayfair friends as breathtakingly ordinary.”
― John le Carré, Call for the Dead

“Secrets are like pregnancies hereabouts. You can hide them for a while but then they will start screaming.”
― Jim Crace, Harvest