Jane Choi

“And I do it because it's unnecessary.

For what is kindness but the performance of an act that is both beneficial to another and unrequited? There is no kindness in paying a bill. There is no kindness in getting up at dawn to slop the pigs, or milk the cows, or gather the eggs from the henhouse. For that matter, there is no kindness in making dinner, or in cleaning the kitchen after your father heads upstairs without so much as a word of thanks.

There is no kindness in latching the doors and turning out the lights, or in picking up the clothes from the bathroom floor in order to put them int he hamper. There is no kindness in taking care of a household because your only sister had the good sense to get herself married and move to Pensacola.

Nope, I said to myself while climbing into bed and switching off the light, there is no kindness in any of that.

For kindness begins where necessity ends.”
― Amor Towles, The Lincoln Highway

“Three hours later, the book finished, her cheeks a little pink because it was so sad and lovely and sad again, Nina stood up and stretched. Coming out of a book was always painful. She was surprised to see things had remained in place while she herself had been roaming other towns, other times.”
― Abbi Waxman, The Bookish Life of Nina Hill

“I read the way a person might swim, to save his or her life.”
― Mary Oliver, Upstream: Selected Essays

“Writing is a lonely job. Having someone who believes in you makes a hell of a difference. They don't have to make speeches. Just believing is usually enough.”
― Stephen King