Verline Cleverly

“Tottering among them was the rival color bearer, whom the youth saw had been bitten vitally by the bullets of the last formidable volley. He perceived this man fighting a last struggle, the struggle of one whose legs are grasped by demons. It was a ghastly battle. Over his face was the bleach of death, but set upon it were the dark and hard lines of desperate purpose. With this terrible grin of resolution he hugged his precious flag to him and was stumbling and staggering in his design to go the way that led to safety for it.”
― Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage [Adaptation]

“Katakan padaku, O cermin ajaib
Perempuan di seluruh dunia ini
Siapakah dia yang paling cantik?"

Dan cermin ajaib menjawab:

"Engkau, Ratu, memang tercantik di negeri ini
Tapi di celah bukit, hutan sunyi
Di pondok rumah tujuh kurcaci
Puteri Salju sedang sembunyi
Cantiknya sungguh tak terperi.”
― Jacob Grimm

“Thou shall not operate on the day of a patient’s death.”
― Abraham Verghese, Cutting for Stone

“I marveled at the beauty of all life and savored the power and possibilities of my imagination. In these rare moments, I prayed, I danced, and I analyzed. I saw that life was good and bad, beautiful and ugly. I understood that I had to dwell on the good and beautiful in order to keep my imagination, sensitivity, and gratitude intact. I knew it would not be easy to maintain this perspective. I knew I would often twist and turn, bend and crack a little, but I also knew that…I would never completely break.”
― Maria Nhambu, Africa's Child