Askorbinka

“I gave up fighting because, when I lived in Florence, I looked at frescoes every day”
― Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall

“John More, Gregory Cromwell, what have we done to our sons? Made them into idle young gentlemen—but who can blame us for wanting for them the ease we didn’t have?”
― Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall

“He was a man of very few words, and as it was impossible to talk, one had to keep silent. It’s hard work talking to some people, most often males. I have a Theory about it. With age, many men come down with testosterone autism, the symptoms of which are a gradual decline in social intelligence and capacity for interpersonal communication, as well as a reduced ability to formulate thoughts. The Person beset by this Ailment becomes taciturn and appears to be lost in contemplation. He develops an interest in various Tools and machinery, and he’s drawn to the Second World War and the biographies of famous people, mainly politicians and villains. His capacity to read novels almost entirely vanishes; testosterone autism disturbs the character’s psychological understanding.”
― Olga Tokarczuk, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead

“Venice had cured him of any nostalgia for the banks of the Thames.”
― Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall