Diane

“...Tell it, I pray thee.
And let me cow'ring stand, and be my touch
The valley's ice: there is a pleasure in it.
Yea, when the cold blood shoots through every vein;
When every pore upon my shrunken skin
A knotted knoll becomes, and to mine ears
Strange inward sounds awake, and to mine eyes
Rush stranger tears, there is a joy in fear.”
― Joanna Baillie, Orra

“It's easy to make a promise but hard to keep one. Unless there's a lot of love there.”
― Robert Cormier, Other Bells for Us to Ring

“Maturity," Bokonon tells us, "is a bitter disappointment for which no remedy exists, unless laughter can be said to remedy anything.”
― Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Cat’s Cradle

“Padding away quietly, he explored the grid of machines. They whirred and clicked and blinked their flashing eyes, but they didn't say anything. They didn't move. Their presence made Jimmy feel even more alone, like a classroom of large boys who all ignored him. Just a handful of days like this and Jimmy felt a new Rule of the World: man wasn't meant to live alone. This is what he discovered, day by day. He discovered it and just as soon forgot, for there was no one around to remind him. He spoke with the machines instead. They clacked back at him and hissed deep in their metal throats that man wasn't supposed to live at all.”
― Hugh Howey, Shift