– Franz Kafka, Letters To Milena

not to be all [i love you till my breathing stops i love you till you call the cops on me] [it’s rotten work not to me not if it’s you] [i can take care of myself just fine. no. what do you mean no? no] [one word from you and i would jump off of this ledge i’m on baby] [i will do anything whatever she wants] [is that too much to expect? that i would name the stars for you?] [you want to die for love you always have] [love for you is not like the usual romantic love. it’s like a religion. it’s terrifying] but i want a love full of devotion

“I’ve always liked quiet people: You never know if they’re dancing in a daydream or if they’re carrying the weight of the world.”

— John Green, Looking for Alaska

Dear Milena,

I wish the world were ending tomorrow. Then I could take the next train, arrive at your doorstep in Vienna, and say: “Come with me, Milena. We are going to love each other without scruples or fear or restraint. Because the world is ending tomorrow.” Perhaps we don’t love unreasonably because we think we have time, or have to reckon with time. But what if we don't have time? Or what if time, as we know it, is irrelevant? Ah, if only the world were ending tomorrow. We could help each other very much.

― Franz Kafka

“ You will always be fond of me. I represent to you all the sins you never had the courage to commit.”

– Oscar Wilde

half of me finishes a book within 6-12 consecutive hours and the other half of me takes roughly six months.

“It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.”

― Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

i am so determined to fall more in love with life. intentionally romanticising the walks i am on, the birds chirping, the blooming nature around me, the water in my cup of tea turning from a light peach tone to a dark pink, the poetry i write, the things i am learning, my handwriting, dozing off while sitting in front of my window, all of it and more. I have to take a closer look at the little things that make my heart beat faster.

this pandemic will end and you’ll claim the window seat in your favorite cafe, stand in a crowd at a concert, visit a museum and make crappy art in the park. sometimes things feel like they’ll go on forever, sometimes bad things feel heavier than good things, sometimes life feels like it’s slowing down and all you’re doing is waiting for the full stop— but just because this hopelessness is all that you’re feeling right now, doesn’t mean that it’s all there is. there’s always more and you will experience that, and you will feel alive again.

— Mary Oliver, Entering the Kingdom

— Amal El-Mohtar, This Is How You Lose the Time War