Laura Līva

“There is no such thing as a good influence, Mr. Gray. All influence is immoral—immoral from the scientific point of view."
"Why?"
"Because to influence a person is to give him one's own soul. He does not think his natural thoughts, or burn with his natural passions. His virtues are not real to him. His sins, if there are such things as sins, are borrowed. He becomes an echo of some one else's music, an actor of a part that has not been written for him. The aim of life is self-development. To realize one's nature perfectly—that is what each of us is here for. People are afraid of themselves, nowadays. They have forgotten the highest of all duties, the duty hat one owes to one's self. Of course, they are charitable. They feed the hungry and clothe the beggar. But their own souls starve, and are naked. Courage has gone out of our race. Perhaps we never really had it. The terror of society, which is the basis of morals, the terror of God, which is the secret of religion—these are the two things that govern us. And yet, I believe that if one man were to live out his life fully and completely, were to give form to every feeling, expression to every thought, reality to every dream—I believe that the world would gain such a fresh impulse of joy that we would forget all the maladies of mediaevalism, and return to the Hellenic ideal—to something finer, richer than the Hellenic ideal, it may be. But the bravest man amongst us is afraid of himself”
― Oscar Wilde , The Picture of Dorian Gray (Collector's Edition): Including the Uncensored 13 Chapter Version & The Revised 20 Chapter Version

“Men waste fortunes to climb a single mountain, Royce. It may be hard to understand, but sometimes the act itself is the reward. I would even go so far as to say that it is the best compensation. For after spending whatever money your work provides, you have nothing to show. But the man who finds satisfaction in the achievement, he will keep his treasure forever. No one can take it away – no thief can steal a memory or erase an accomplishment. And the dividends are more than the means to procure food. They are the building blocks of self-confidence, courage, respect, even admiration. I'd be wary of that last one though, as it is a bit too much like wine.”
― Michael J. Sullivan, Drumindor

“Time is fleeting moments, grains of sand passing through an hourglass. Time is the moments and events we so readily try to measure. But the ancient Ouroboros reminds us that in every moment, in every instant, in every event, is hidden the past, the present and the future. Eternity is hidden in every moment. Every departure is at once a return, every farewell is a greeting, every return is a parting. Everything is simultaneously a beginning and an end.”
― Andrzej Sapkowski, Pani Jeziora

“Folk aren’t just cowards or heroes. They’re both and neither, depending on how things stand. Depending on who stands with them, who stands against. Depending on the life they’ve had. The death they see waiting.”
― Joe Abercrombie, Half a War