Annie

“Love is not a weakness. It's the bravest act of our lives.”
― Georgia Scott, American Girl: Memories That Made Me

“Mi dissi che forse quest'altro padre l'avevo avuto sempre lì e non me n'ero mai accorto, per quanto era ingombrante il primo.”
― Paolo Cognetti, Le otto montagne

“remembered him coming home after long shifts and immediately sitting down at the kitchen table, forcing my mother to listen to his complaints about all his difficult colleagues and the maître d’s, not to mention the diners he had to put up with. I never heard him accept responsibility for any tricky situation that had arisen; it was always the other person who had been in the wrong. When I was a child, I thought my father was an amazing man who never made any mistakes, but as time went on I realised that of course he was simply blaming someone else. That was also why he burdened himself with what sometimes seemed like a bottomless sorrow over a life that had turned out to be a failure.”
― Henning Mankell, After the Fire

“Knowledge is our gift.
Understanding is our blessing.
Wisdom is our fortune.
Enlightenment is our reward.

Art is our gift.
Science is our blessing.
Technology is our fortune.
God is our reward.

Time is our gift.
Light is our blessing.
Fate is our fortune.
Nature is our reward.

Land is our gift.
Water is our blessing.
Air is our fortune.
Life is our reward.

Mothers are our gift.
Youth are our blessing.
Elders are our fortune.
Children are our reward.

The past is our gift.
The present is our blessing.
The future is our fortune.
Eternity is our reward.

The mind is our gift.
The heart is our blessing.
The body is our fortune.
The soul is our reward.

Faith is our gift.
Joy is our blessing.
Virtue is our fortune.
Love is our reward.”
― Matshona Dhliwayo