Edison Payen

“It was one thing to live in a world where death stood a distant figure, quite another to hold it in your hands.”
― David Wroblewski, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

“In a world of fugitives, the person taking the opposite direction will appear to run away.”
― T.S. Eliot, The Family Reunion

“The Manchus drank tea with a lot of milk. In her case, the milk came from the breasts of a nurse. Cixi had been taking human milk since her prolonged illness in the early 1880s, on the recommendation of a renowned doctor. Several wet nurses were employed, and took turns to squeeze milk into a bowl for her. The nurses brought their sucking babies with them, and the woman who served her the longest stayed on in the palace, her son being given education and an office job.”
― Jung Chang, Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China

“The early women rise before I do. Their lamps splinter the gloom of the kitchens. They chatter in whispers as they brew tea for the cooks. Windows are open to counter the heat of the ovens. Outside, the sky is as black as my soul.”
― K. Ritz, Sheever's Journal, Diary of a Poison Master