italppho

“Look upon men and things with the inner eye, with its form and desire, never forgetting that the shadow they throw as they pass by, upon hillock or wall, is but the fleeting image of a mightier shadow, which, like the wing of an imperishable swan, floats over every soul that draws near to their soul. Do not believe that thoughts such as these can be mere ornaments, and without influence upon the lives of those who admit them. It is far more important that one’s life should be perceived than that it should be transformed; for no sooner has it been perceived, than it transforms itself of its own accord.”
― Maurice Maeterlinck

“All art is the result of one’s having been in danger of having gone through an experience all the way to the end when no one can go any further. This is what it is like to be an artist – you are unsteady on the edge of life like a swan before an anxious launching of himself on the floods where he is gently caught.”
― Edmund de Waal

“Once the world was full of wonders, but it belongs to humans now. We creatures have all but disappeared; daemons, vampires and witches. Hiding in plain sight, fearful of discovery, ill at ease even with each other.
But as my father used to say:
In every ending, there is a new beginning.”
― Deborah Harkness, A Discovery of Witches

“The best teachers impart knowledge through sleight of hand, like a magician.”
― Kate Betts, My Paris Dream: An Education in Style, Slang, and Seduction in the Great City on the Seine