Ishmael

“Grief, my mother once told me, is love’s most honest expression. The last and hardest aspect of truly, truly caring for someone. She said it at her own mother’s funeral rites, tears in her eyes even as she tried to comfort a boy too young to understand why he was so sad, why his grandmother couldn’t be there anymore. She explained through choking sobs that without grief, love would be meaningless. Because it is impossible to truly love something that cannot be lost.”
― James Islington, The Strength of the Few

“Of all the unthinkable events in his life, the fact that the universe had put him beside this woman felt the most unlikely.”
― James S.A. Corey, The Mercy of Gods

“A warrior must strive toward perfection, knowing full well that it will forever be unobtainable.”
― Raymond E. Feist, Servant of the Empire

“It is one thing to admit to being feared, or hated. Quite another to admit that you are unloved, and lonely, and that it is taking all your strength to hide it.”
― Antonia Hodgson, The Raven Scholar