Michelle

“There is a story, always ahead of you. Barely existing. Only gradually do you attach yourself to it and feed it. You discover the carapace that will contain and test your character. You will find in this way the path of your life.”
― Michael Ondaatje, The Cat's Table

“Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so. One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return.”
― Mary Jean Irion

“We are expanded by tears, we are told, not reduced by them.”
― Michael Ondaatje, The Cat's Table

“The dead can survive as part of the lives of those that still live.”
― Kenzaburō Ōe, Hiroshima Notes