Amanda Maciel

“The flower replied: you fool! Do you imagine I blossom in order to be seen? I blossom for my own sake because it pleases me, not for the sake of others. My joy consists in my being and my blossoming.”
― Irvin Yalom

“Since I first gained the use of reason my inclination toward learning has been so violent and strong that neither the scoldings of other people...nor my own reflections...have been able to stop me from following this natural impulse that God gave me. He alone must know why; and He knows too that I have begged Him to take away the light of my understanding, leaving only enough for me to keep His law, for anything else is excessive in a woman, according to some people. And others say it is even harmful.”
― Juana Inés de la Cruz, Respuesta a Sor Filotea de la Cruz

“The monuments, the ideas left behind by beings like me are my greatest pleasure in life. Without books I would long ago have been in despair.”
― Irvin D. Yalom, The Schopenhauer Cure

“Scepticism is the chastity of the intellect, and it is shameful to surrender it too soon or to the first comer: there is nobility in preserving it coolly and proudly through long youth, until at last, in the ripeness of instinct and discretion, it can be safely exchanged for fidelity and happiness.”
― George Santayana