“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 that one owes to oneself. 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.”
― The Picture of Dorian Gray and Other Stories
― The Picture of Dorian Gray and Other Stories
“turn and turn and turn again
you see the what, but not the when
remedy and wrong entwine
and so they form a single vine”
― Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods
you see the what, but not the when
remedy and wrong entwine
and so they form a single vine”
― Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods
“If you are not trying to hold on to time, you are not so afraid of losing it.”
― Gregor the Overlander
― Gregor the Overlander
“We're all human, aren't we? Every human life is worth the same, and worth saving.”
― Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
― Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
“I wish we could go back in time and climb trees together again. I love you, Vera. I always will.”
― Please Ignore Vera Dietz
― Please Ignore Vera Dietz
HeraSays’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at HeraSays’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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