Diana

“His speech is low and rapid, his manner assured; he is at home in courtroom or waterfront, bishop’s palace or inn yard. He can draft a contract, train a falcon, draw a map, stop a street fight, furnish a house and fix a jury. He will quote you a nice point in the old authors, from Plato to Plautus and back again. He knows new poetry, and can say it in Italian. He works all hours, first up and last to bed. He makes money and he spends it. He will take a bet on anything.”
― Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall

“If a man spoke to you in that tone, you'd invite him to step outside and ask someone to hold your coat."
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― Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall

“My library was -- all libraries are -- a place of ultimate refuge, a wild and sacred space where meanings are manageable precisely because they aren't binding; and where illusion is comfortingly real.”
― André Brink

“This room was obviously decorated by a Color blind stripper in 1982. It’s halfway between ‘suburban rec room’ and ‘motel meth lab’.”
― Rob Sheffield, Turn Around Bright Eyes: The Rituals of Love & Karaoke