sylvia

“Love is the great intangible. In our nightmares, we can create beasts out of pure emotion. Hate stalks the streets with dripping fangs, fear flies down narrow alleyways on leather wings, and jealousy spins sticky webs across the sky. In daydreams, we can maneuver with poise, foiling an opponent, scoring high on fields of glory while crowds cheer, cutting fast to the heart of an adventure. But what dream state is love? Frantic and serene, vigilant and calm, wrung-out and fortified, explosive and sedate –love commands a vast army of moods. Hoping for victory, limping from the latest skirmish, lovers enter the arena once again. Sitting still, we are as daring as gladiators.”
― Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of Love

“Writing, which is my form of celebration and prayer, is also my form of inquiry.”
― Diane Ackerman

“In the early years of the Uprising, we survived on one meal a day of horse meat and soup, but by the end we ate only dried peas, dogs, cats and birds.”
― Diane Ackerman

“Suffering took hold of me like a magic spell abolishing all differences between friends and strangers.”
― Diane Ackerman, The Zookeeper's Wife