#tender

You don't blast a heart open," she said. "You coax and nurture it open, like the sun does to a rose. ↗

— Melody Beattie

#love #tenderness #love

A man must at times be hard as nails: willing to face up to the truth about himself, and about the woman he loves, refusing compromise when compromise is wrong. But he must also be tender. No weapon will breach the armor of a woman's resentment like tenderness. ↗

— Elisabeth Elliot

#manhood #relationships #tenderness #love

And then I remember this morning and I wonder if it really happened or if I dreamed it. It was nice. And weird. And tender. I'm not used to tender. It's a fossil, that word. Conditions changed and it died out. Like the woolly mammoth. It just couldn't live in the same world as dick box. Ho dog. Or wiener cousins. ↗

— Jennifer Donnelly

#romance #tenderness #vulgarity #young-adult #young-love

You let me set the water in the shower, and followed me into the booth to stand there with me under the warm spray. You kept your head down, not looking me in the eyes—though if you were shy, I couldn’t tell. You had no reason to be. You know what you look like. I know you don’t remember what we did. I want to tell you. ↗

— Julio-Alexi Genao

#sex #tenderness #love

You know those little moments when an unexpected act or a spoken word affects your heart with sweet, satiating intensity - a simple gesture that possesses deep, personal meaning beyond what anyone realizes?  You know those tender moments?  That's God pressing his lips on your forehead and whispering, 'I love you'. ↗

— Richelle E. Goodrich

#god #inspirational #kindness #love #mercy

It's not good enough to give it tender, loving care, to supply it with breakfast foods, to buy it expensive educations. Those things don't mean anything unless this generation has a future. And we're not sure that it does. ↗

— George Wald

#breakfast #buy #care #does #educations

She felt like a chess player who, by the clever handling of his pieces, sees the game taking the course intended. Her eyes were bright and tender with a smile as they glanced up into his; and her lips looked hungry for the kiss which they invited. ↗

— Kate Chopin

#chess #clever #course #eyes #felt

When I get through tearing a lobster apart, or one of those tender West Coast octopuses, I feel like I had a drink from the fountain of youth. ↗

— Joseph Mitchell

#coast #drink #feel #fountain #get

When I approach a child, he inspires in me two sentiments; tenderness for what he is, and respect for what he may become. ↗

— Louis Pasteur

#become #child #i #inspires #may

What had brought me to New York in the autumn of 1972 was a letter of recommendation written by Norman Mailer, the author of 'The Naked and the Dead' and American literature's leading heavyweight contender, to Dan Wolf, the delphic editor of 'The Village Voice.' ↗

— James Wolcott

#author #autumn #brought #contender #dan