Mel Hill

“There, in the tin factory, in the first moment of the atomic age, a human being was crushed by books.”
― John Hersey, Hiroshima

“People with self-respect exhibit a certain toughness, a kind of moral nerve; they display what was once called *character,* a quality which, although approved in the abstract, sometimes loses ground to the other, more instantly negotiable virtues.... character--the willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life--is the source from which self-respect springs.”
― Joan Didion, Slouching Towards Bethlehem

“Trust me, it's paradise. This is where the hungry come to feed. For mine is the generation that travels the globe and searches for something we haven't tried before. So never refuse an invitation, never resist the unfamiliar, never fail to be polite & never outstay the welcome. Just keep your mind open and suck in the experience— And if it hurts, you know what? It's probably worth it.”
― Alex Garland, The Beach

“The right ending is an open door you can't see too far out of. It can mean exactly the opposite of what you are thinking.”
― Michael Ondaatje, Coming Through Slaughter