Venus

“Qué necesario será, amigo mío, que sufras con minucia de la profundidad de cada cosa, de su repercusión, de su perspectiva… Qué triunfo si triunfas, si restituyes, solidificado en palabras, ese doble que se entrevé detrás de la vida. Imagino que al leerte uno tendrá un escalofrío –al sentir que algo tan oscuro se ha vuelto tan inmediatamente presente, tan urgente… ¿Por qué no habría de existir ese paisaje que yo discierno, que yo siento detrás de toda apariencia? ¿Por qué habría de ser menos real?”
― Victoria Ocampo, Victoria Ocampo Virginia Woolf Correspondencia

“Hannah worried about him a little, but only a very little. For it soon became clear that he wanted a place to die privately but not quite alone.”
― Toni Morrison, Sula

“A garden should have little gardens tucked away inside it. It should have alcoves and secret places, and paths that make you want to take them even though they don’t lead anywhere. What grows well, you cherish. What doesn’t, you throw out”
― William Trevor, Two Lives

“He wished to be within earshot when Aimée emerged from her sleep, since each time she did so she would find herself deeper in what seemed like a nightmare.
‘You comprehend, signora? Reversal of waking from bad dreams. For this child such dreams begin then.”
― William Trevor, Two Lives