Ayesa

“And yet there were things that I loved greatly: Paris, certain smells, books, love and my present life.”
― Françoise Sagan, Bonjour Tristesse / A Certain Smile

“playing chess against oneself is thus as paradoxical as jumping over one’s own shadow.”
― Stefan Zweig, Chess Story

“You see, I am fate,” it shouted, “and stronger than your puny plans; and I am how-things-turn-out and I am different from your little dreams, and I am the flight of time and the end of beauty and unfulfilled desire; all the accidents and imperceptions and the little minutes that shape the crucial hours are mine. I am the exception that proves no rules, the limits of your control, the condiment in the dish of life.”
― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Other Jazz Age Stories

“Nothing on earth exerts such pressure on the human soul as a void.”
― Stefan Zweig, Chess Story