James Tollefson

“I had jumped off the edge, and then, at the very last moment, something reached out and caught me in midair. That something is what I define as love. It is the one thing that can stop a man from falling, powerful enough to negate the laws of gravity.”
― Paul Auster, Moon Palace

“We did not ask for this room or this music. We were invited in. Therefore, because the dark surrounds us, let us turn our faces to the light. Let us endure hardship to be grateful for plenty. We have been given pain to be astounded by joy. We have been given life to deny death. We did not ask for this room or this music. But because we are here, let us dance.”
― Stephen King, 11/22/63

“some questions will ruin you if you are denied the answer long enough.”
― Jeff VanderMeer, Annihilation

“You told me that suffering can deepen and expand a poet's work. And that sometimes suffering can put so much pressure on a person that they have no choice but to become a poet.”
― Victoria Chang, Dear Memory: Letters on Writing, Silence and Grief