Karen

“A revelation earned only in hindsight: beauty can have a corrosive effect on character. It is possible to coast for some years on no more than a few polished lines and a dazzling smile, and those years are formative.”
― Emily St. John Mandel, The Glass Hotel

“He thought about treason and wondered whether there was mindless treason in the same way, supposedly, as there was mindless violence.”
― John le Carré, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

“It took some real inattention to detail, reality, and history to call either the Chinese or the varied nations that made up what Britain called India uncivilized, but then English propriety was that rare combination of inattention to everything that mattered coupled with a minute fascination with everything that didn’t.”
― Courtney Milan, The Devil Comes Courting

“In the end, if you change the enemy enough, if you wear them down, perhaps losing is good enough.”
― Jeff VanderMeer, Dead Astronauts