We Delight In The Beauty Of The Butterfly, But Rarely Admit The Changes It Has Gone Through To Achieve

“It isn’t necessary that you leave home. Sit at your desk and listen. Don’t even listen, just wait. Don’t wait, be still and alone. The whole world will offer itself to you.”

— Franz Kafka, The Zürau Aphorisms (via philosophybits)

Alejandra Pizarnik, "Silences" from Extracting the Stone of Madness: Poems 1962 - 1972

Yes, I did write in my letter that I would wait for you forever. I didn’t mean exactly “forever,” I just included it for the rhythm.

— Dunya Mikhail, from “Non-Military Statements,” The War Works Hard tr. Elizabeth Winslow

“If you want to awaken all of humanity, then awaken all of yourself. If you want to eliminate the suffering in the world, then eliminate all that is dark and negative in yourself. Truly, the greatest gift you have to give is that of your own self-transformation.”

— Lao Tzu 

Alana Marie Levinson-LaBrosse on translating Abdulla Pashew's "Resurrection" (essay here, full poem here) [ID'd]

““I miss dreaming forwards,” Anna said. “What?” “I dream backwards now. You won’t believe how backwards you’ll dream someday.””

— Marina Keegan, The Opposite of Loneliness (via quoted-books)

Albert Camus, The Fall Originally published: 1956

Cecília Meireles, from "In Autumn, My Heart," featured in Antologia poética

“Elle s'éveillait comme d'un songe, elle naissait à la passion.”

— Émile Zola, Thérèse Raquin