Sachi

“Then let us drink a cup of tea. Silence descends, one hears the wind outside, the autumn leaves rustle and take flight, the cat sleeps in a warm pool of light. And with each swallow, time is sublimed.”
― Muriel Barbery, The Elegance of the Hedgehog

“But if there’s one thing monks know how to do, it’s to pray so that Heaven hears.” As she walked away, she heard Yuchun’s smug voice in her head: Can’t pray away your fate. But maybe, she thought grimly, you could pray and claim another.”
― Shelley Parker-Chan, She Who Became the Sun

“In our world, that’s the way you live your grown-up life: you must constantly rebuild your identity as an adult, the way it’s been put together it is wobbly and ephemeral, so fragile, cloaking despair and, when you’re alone in front of the mirror, it tells you the lies you need to believe.”
― Muriel Barbery, The Elegance of the Hedgehog