#akin

And though she could scarcely even feel them, her lips formed the words, and sound emerged, sounding frayed, and small and cracked, forged in her somehow before she was born, since before time, words meant only for him. “I love you.” Three of the most powerful words in the world offered to one of the most powerful men in London in such a small voice. And at first she thought nothing at all had happened. He didn’t blink. But then she realized she’d somehow set him . . . softly ablaze. Emotion burned from him, and his eyes . . . she would never forget his eyes in this moment. His hands remained at his sides. Which is when she noticed they were trembling. God help her, that’s when she felt tears begin to burn at the back of her eyes. One got away. And she brushed her hand roughly against it. And the man who never cleared his throat . . . cleared his throat. And his voice, in truth, wasn’t a good deal louder than hers. “Then it’s just as well that I love you, Genevieve. ↗

— Julie Anne Long

#beauty

There is nothing that is not beautiful about bread. The way it grows, from tiny grains, from bowls on the counter, from yeast blooming in a measuring cup like swampy islands. The way it fills a room, a house, a building, with its inimitable smells, submits to a firmly applied fist and contracts, swells again; the way it stretches and expands upon kneading, the warm, supple feel of it against skin. The sight of a warm roll on a table, the taste-sweet, sour, yeasty on the tongue. ↗

— Eleanor Brown

#beauty

Mrs Forrester ... sat in state, pretending not to know what cakes were sent up, though she knew, and we knew, and she knew that we knew, and we knew that she knew that we knew, she had been busy all the morning making tea-bread and sponge-cakes. ↗

— Elizabeth Gaskell

#cakes #humor #modesty #pretense #tea-parties

C'mon, you're gonna get upset sometimes. Breaking up is a shitty business. Someone always gets hurt. This time it happens to be you. ↗

— Alexandra Potter

#love #business

Personal affection is a luxury you can have only after all your ememies are eliminated. Until then, everyone you love is a hostage, sapping your courage and your judgment. ↗

— Orson Scott Card

#mostly-true #courage

when things break, it's not the actual breaking that prevents them from getting back together again. it's because a little piece gets lost -- the two remaining ends couldn't fit together even if they wanted to. the whole shape has changed. ↗

— David Levithan

#change

That speaking the words, even if true, had little power to change the inevitable or even make him feel much better. ↗

— Nicholas Sparks

#change #feel #power #speaking #true

A lifetime isn't forever, so take the first chance, don't wait for the second one! Because sometimes, there aren't second chances! And if it turns out to be a mistake? So what! This is life! A whole bunch of mistakes! But if you never get a second chance at something you didn't take a first chance at? That's true failure. ↗

— C. JoyBell C.

#inspirational-life #inspirational-living #living-life-to-the-fullest #second-chances #take-the-first-chance

The ignoramus crow of "love it or leave it" omits other viable options, such as staying and changing it. ↗

— Bryant McGill

#decisions #options #risk-taking #change

We may not have the ability to change all of the world's wrongs, but we can make a difference where we are. ↗

— Dillon Burroughs

#making-a-difference #change