Barb Brown

“the real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes,”
― Abraham Verghese, The Covenant of Water

“To hear what?” “Each other, perhaps. Not each other’s words, but each other’s thoughts. Each other’s spirit. If you ask me what I believe, I shall tell you this: the whole sphere of air that surrounds us, Alma, is alive with invisible attractions—electric, magnetic, fiery and thoughtful. There is a universal sympathy all around us. There is a hidden means of knowing. I am certain of this, for I have witnessed it myself. When I swung myself into the fire as a young man, I saw that the storehouses of the human mind are rarely ever fully opened. When we open them, nothing remains unrevealed. When we cease all argument and debate—both internal and external—our true questions can be heard and answered. That is the powerful mover. That is the book of nature, written neither in Greek nor in Latin. That is the gathering of magic, and it is a gathering that, I have always believed and wished, can be shared.” “You speak in riddles,” Alma said. “And you speak too much,” Ambrose replied.”
― Elizabeth Gilbert, The Signature of All Things

“Wherever you go, whatever happens to you, it happens to me” is a line from e. e. cummings,”
― Abraham Verghese, The Covenant of Water

“Abiding happiness and peace are theirs who choose this study for its own sake, without expectation of any reward,”
― Abraham Verghese, The Covenant of Water