Columbus

“We can know what we do wrong even before we do it, but self-knowledge can't affect or change the outcome, can it? Everyone singing his own little song, convinced it's the most wonderful song the world has ever heard. Don't you see? We create our own thorns, and never stop to count the cost. All we can do is suffer the pain, and tell ourselves it was well worth it.”
― Colleen McCullough, The Thorn Birds

“It's like being a little kid again, parading around in a nightgown tucked into your underpants, believing it looks terrific.”
― Tina Fey, Bossypants

“Fool that I am," said he,"that I did not tear out my heart the day I resolved to revenge myself".”
― Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo

“These joys were so trifling as to be as imperceptible as grains of gold among the sand, and in moments of depression she saw nothing but the sand; yet there were brighter moments when she felt nothing but joy, saw nothing but the gold.”
― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina