The Flailing Never Stops

"April 27. Incapable of living with people, of speaking. Complete immersion in myself, thinking of myself. Apathetic, witless, fearful. I have nothing to say to anyone - never."

Franz Kafka, Diaries of Franz Kafka   (via delicateswans)

(Source: fatifer, via booklover)

"Bea says that the art of reading is slowly dying, that it’s an intimate ritual, that a book is a mirror that offers us only what we already carry inside us, that when we read, we do it with all our heart and mind, and great readers are becoming more scarce by the day."

Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind (via isaboutwords)

(via booklover)

"Envy is the religion of the mediocre. It comforts them, it soothes their worries, and finally it rots their souls, allowing them to justify their meanness and their greed until they believe these to be virtues."

Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Angel’s Game (via thegirlandherbooks)

(via booklover)

"This world, such as it is, is not tolerable. Therefore I need the moon, or happiness, or immortality, I need something which is perhaps demented, but which is not of this world."

Albert Camus, Caligula (via c-ovet)

(Source: ruthmorse, via booklover)

"The trouble with being a daydreamer who doesn’t say much is that the teachers at school, especially those who don’t know you very well, are likely to think you’re rather stupid. Or, if not stupid, then dull. No one can see the amazing things that are going on in your head"

The Daydreamer, Ian McEwan (via dreamwithin-adream)

(via fuckyeahreading)

"The worth of a book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it"

James Bryce (via iwaschangedforgood)

(via fuckyeahreading)

"My life amounts to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean. Yet what is any ocean, but a multitude of drops?"

David Mitchell - Cloud Atlas (via narayu)

(via fuckyeahreading)

"We praise people for being “naturally” smart, too, “naturally” athletic, and etc. But studies continue to show, as they have for some time now, that it is generally healthier to praise schoolchildren for being hardworking, than for being naturally gifted. We know now that to emphasize a child’s inherent ability places pressure on that child to continue to be accidentally talented, which is something that is hard for anyone to control. When the children who are applauded for their natural skills fail, they are shown to take the failure very personally. After all, the process of their success has always seemed mysterious and basic and inseparable from the rest of their identity, so it must be they who are failing as whole people. When students are instead complimented and rewarded for their effort and improvement, they tend to not be so hard on themselves. When they fail, they reason, “Well, I’ll work harder next time.” They learn that they are capable of success, rather than constantly automatically deserving of it, and they learn simultaneously that they are bigger and more complex than their individual successes or failures."

Kate of Eat the Damn Cake, The Stupidity of “Natural” Beauty (x)

(via grumpys)