Softwear

“And could a man sink to such triviality, such meanness, such nastiness? Could he change so much? And is it true to life? Yes, it is all true to life. All this can happen to a man. The ardent youth of today would start back in horror if you could show him his portrait in old age. As you pass from the soft years of youth into harsh, hardening manhood, be sure you take with you on the way all the humane emotions, do not leave them on the road: you will not pick them up again afterwards!”
― Nikolai Gogol, Dead Souls

“The wind blew cold, and he was freezing, but he did not notice that he was freezing, for within him was a counterfrost, fear.”
― Patrick Suskind, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

“As we expand our knowledge of good books, we shrink the circle of men whose company we appreciate.”
― Ludwig Feuerbach

“There is one kind of prison where the man is behind bars, and everything he desires is outside; and there is another kind where the things are behind the bars, and the man is outside.”
― Upton Sinclair