jen

“mania for exact change can be off-putting for a traveler, what with getting yelled at by cashiers and cab drivers all day long for the crime of paying a sixteen-euro fare with a twenty-euro note. She said that it was nothing personal, that the French are naturally aggressive, especially with one another. Which I suppose is a form of equality, but not the sweet kind experienced by Lafayette.”
― Sarah Vowell, Lafayette in the Somewhat United States

“The words Lafayette used to describe that triumph—“I did not hesitate to be disagreeable to preserve my independence”—applied to getting his way regarding America as well. Perhaps the most emblematic anecdote foretelling Lafayette’s stubborn refusal to give up his American dream was the boyhood story about how one day, one of his Parisian schoolteachers was talking up the virtues of an obedient horse. According to Lafayette, “I described the perfect horse as one which, at the sight of the whip, had the sense to throw his rider to the ground before he could be whipped.”
― Sarah Vowell, Lafayette in the Somewhat United States

“I wonder if “Anchorite” means “anchorman,” or if it’s a Kiwi-ism or a rifle club–ism. Cambridge is full of insiders’ words to keep outsiders out.”
― David Mitchell, The Bone Clocks

“Lia called her right before the lights went out. There’s that moment, you know, for most people, where you decide you want to wake up in the world one more day.”
― Jenny Offill, Dept. of Speculation