Alan Tomkins

“Baker had a talent for connection. He could be whatever he needed to be at the moment it was necessary. The young man who slid back and forth from Texas to Princeton, from the Ivy Club in the spring to the wildcatter's rig in the summer, now applied the same skills on Capitol Hill.”
― Peter Baker, The Man Who Ran Washington: The Life and Times of James A. Baker III

“He flung off his stupor and began to think. He strove not to give way to emotion, but to stand face to face with circumstances. To look fortune in the face is the duty of every one not an idiot;”
― Victor Hugo, The Man Who Laughs

“When you feel the bitterness trying to take root, right then say, “God, I’m turning this over to You. I know that You are my vindicator. I know that You’ll make my wrongs right. You said You would give me beauty for these ashes.”
― Joel Osteen, Daily Readings from Next Level Thinking: 90 Devotions for a Successful and Abundant Life

“[Greens] don't come through the back door the same as other groceries. They don't cower at the bottom of paper bags marked 'Liberty.' They wave over the top. They don't stop to be checked off the receipt. They spill out onto the counter. No going onto shelves with cans in orderly lines like school children waiting for recess. No waiting, sometimes for years beyond the blue sell by date, to be picked up and taken from the shelf. Greens don't stack or stand at attention. They aren't peas to be pushed around. Cans can't contain them. Boxed in they would burst free. Greens are wild. Plunging them into a pot took some doing. Only lobsters fight more. Either way, you have to use your hands. Then, retrieving them requires the longest of my mother's wooden spoons, the one with the burnt end. Swept onto a plate like the seaweed after a storm, greens sit tall, dark, and proud.”
― Georgia Scott, American Girl: Memories That Made Me