Lauren

“You are your best thing”
― Toni Morrison, Beloved

“Let the children come,' and they ran from the trees toward her. 'Let your mothers hear you laugh,' she told them. And the woods rang. The adults looked on and could not help smiling. Then, 'let the grown men come,' she shouted. They stepped out one by one from among the ringing trees. 'Let your wives and your children see you dance,' she told them. And ground life shuddered beneath their feet. Finally, she called the women to her. 'Cry,' she told them. 'For the living and the dead, just cry.' And without covering their eyes, the women let loose. It started that way, laughing children, dancing men, crying women. And then it got mixed up. Women stopped crying and danced. Men sat down and cried. Children danced. Women laughed. Children cried until exhausted.”
― Toni Morrison, Beloved

“We all bear scars,... Mine just happen to be more visible than most.”
― Sarah J. Maas, Throne of Glass

“It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life.”
― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby