Hero

“For who can be ashamed to lose to such beauty? It was enough to watch him win, to see the soles of his feet flashing as they kicked up sand, or the rise and fall of his shoulders as he pulled through the salt. It was enough.”
― Madeline Miller, The Song of Achilles

“His presence was like a stone in my shoe, impossible to ignore.”
― Madeline Miller, The Song of Achilles

“I have heard that men who live by a waterfall cease to hear it—in such a way did I learn to live beside the rushing torrent of his doom.”
― Madeline Miller, The Song of Achilles

“The slightest thing delighted him. I wished I could be more like that, and tried to promise myself I’d work harder to be happier.”
― Ottessa Moshfegh, Death in Her Hands