Lauren

“He was, in the end, the sort of man who causes us to ask ourselves, “What does he live for? What does he find in life? What logic compels him to keep breathing? What philosophy drives him as he wanders the earth?” But we ask in vain if we fail to look beyond the surface—if we forget that beneath each surface lurks another realm, in which a caged mind whirls alone. It is, perhaps, easier to dismiss a man whose face gives no indication of an inner life. And what a pity that is: a dash of curiosity is all it takes to stumble upon treasures we never expected.”
― Sabahattin Ali, Madonna in a Fur Coat

“At such moments it was the thought of the security offered by a regular even though an unpleasant life, the spirit which dooms the canary bird to its caged existence, a natural tendency to follow the line of least resistance, that predominated. On the other hand, standing in the ranks at morning roll call and seeing Batian beckoning me with its shimmering glaciers, I sometimes felt like running away on the spot, to seek and to meet adventure halfway. We poor mortals are made like this, a mixture of contrasts, shade and light, fears and exaltations.”
― Felice Benuzzi, No Picnic on Mount Kenya: The Story of Three POWs' Escape to Adventure

“If you’re ever going to do anything that’s important to you, do it now. This is the only time you have to do everything you ever wanted to do. Don’t save anything for the future. The future is now.”
― Jeff Smoot, Hangdog Days: Conflict, Change, and the Race for 5.14

“Moving from one room to the next I inhaled in passing that incense of an old library which is worth all the perfumes of the world.”
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Wind, Sand and Stars