Shruti

“Power dictates acceptability,”
― R.F. Kuang, The Poppy War

“Elio: This is my spot. All mine. I come here to read. I can't tell you the number of booksI've read here.

Oliver: Do you like being alone?

Elio: No. No one likes being alone. But I've learned how to live with it.

Oliver: Are you always so very wise?

Elio: I'm not wise at all. I told you, I know nothing. I know books, and I know how to string words togethet - it doesn't mean I know how to speak about the things that matter most to me.”
― André Aciman, Call Me by Your Name

“I worship her, Alyosha, worship her. Only she doesn't see it. No, she still thinks I don't love her enough. And she tortures me, tortures me with her love. The past was nothing! In the past it was only that infernal body of hers that tortured me, but now I've taken all her soul into my soul and through her I've become a man. Will they marry us? If they don't I will die of jealousy. I imagine something every day...”
― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov

“It’s easy to be brave. Harder to know when not to fight.”
― R.F. Kuang, The Poppy War