Ava Donley

“Robert was silent for a long moment, watching his breath form clouds in the frigid air. “My grandfather fought in Vietnam,” he finally said. “Spent three years in a camp not so different from this one. When I joined up, he told me something I didn’t understand until now.”
He turned to face Alvarez, the young man’s features blurry on his blind side. “He said, ‘The enemy can take your freedom, your health, even parts of your body. But they can only take your humanity if you hand it over willingly.’”
Alvarez nodded slowly.
“I’ve lost my eye,” Robert continued, gesturing to his scarred face. “I’ve lost whatever future I thought I had. But I refuse to let them take anything else.”
― Devin Rose, Vermillion's War

“Remember… start each day with a task completed. Find someone to help you through life. Respect everyone. Know that life is not fair and that you will fail often. But if you take some risks, step up when times are toughest, face down the bullies, lift up the downtrodden, and never, ever give up- if you can do these things, then you can change your life for the better… and maybe the world!”
― William H. McRaven, Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...And Maybe the World

“They neither of them believed in themselves; for that is a decadent weakness.”
― G. K. Chesterton, The Ball and The Cross

“…there are always some lunatics about. It would be a dull world without them.”
― Sherlock Holmes Collection