*Jam *

“(...) nothing contributes so much to tranquillize the mind as a steady purpose - a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye.”
― Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

“Little they cared what anybody thought, for they were enjoying the happy hour that seldom comes but once in any life, the magical moment which bestows youth on the old, beauty on the plain, wealth on the poor, and gives human hearts a foretaste of heaven. The Professor looked as if he had conquered a kingdom, and the world had nothing more to offer him in the way of bliss. While Jo trudged beside him, feeling as if her place had always been there, and
wondering how she ever could have chosen any other lot.”
― Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

“His smile—crooked and cynical and too familiar with the world—and at the same time full of hope.”
― Cinda Williams Chima, The Crimson Crown

“As a quick aside, let me observe that in moments of high emotion—whether they’re triggered by anger or envy, humiliation or resentment—if the next thing you’re going to say makes you feel better, then it’s probably the wrong thing to say.”
― Amor Towles, Rules of Civility