Karen

“He said you don’t have to lead by telling other people what to do, you can lead by just letting them do what they’re capable of instead.”
― Fredrik Backman, Anxious People

“He had always done his duty, all his duty, his duty as a son, a husband, a father, a leader. He had also unhesitatingly demanded his rights: as a child, the right to be well brought up, in a united family, the right to inherit a spotless name, a prosperous business; as a husband, the right to be cared for, to be surrounded with tender affection; as a father, the right to be venerated; as a leader, the right to be obeyed without demur. For a right is never anything but the other aspect of a duty. His extraordinary success (the Pacômes are now the richest family in Bouville) could never have surprised him. He had never told himself that he was happy, and when he indulged in a pleasure, he must have done so in moderation, saying: ‘I am relaxing.’ Thus pleasure, likewise acquiring the status of a right, lost its aggressive futility. On the left, a little above his bluish grey hair, I noticed”
― Jean-Paul Sartre, Nausea

“The tea ritual: such a precise repetition of the same gestures and the same tastes; accession to simple, authentic and refined sensations, a licence granted to all, at little cost, to become aristocrats of taste, because tea is the beverage of the wealthy and of the poor; the tea ritual, therefore, has the extraordinary virtue of introducing into the absurdity of our lives an aperture of serene harmony. Yes, the world may aspire to vacuousness, lost souls mourn beauty, insignificance surrounds us. Then let us drink a cup of tea. Silence descends, one hears the wind outside, the autumn leaves rustle and take flight, the cat sleeps in a warm pool of light. And with each swallow, time is sublimed.”
― Muriel Barbery, The Elegance of the Hedgehog

“No writing is ever wasted, you used to say. Even if something doesn’t work out and you end up throwing it away, as a writer you always learn something.”
― Sigrid Nunez, The Friend