I cannot live without books @quotes-from-literature - Tumblr Blog

You have to believe. Otherwise, it will never happen.

Neil Gaiman, Stardust (via wildeux)

Viserys smiled and lowered his sword. That was the saddest thing, the thing that tore at her afterward . . . the way he smiled.

Daenerys before Viserys' death

Game of Thrones by George RR Martin

#viserys targaryen #game of thrones #game of thrones quotes #got #george rr martin #grrm

Joffrey is truly a little shit.

Jon Snow to Arya

Game of Thrones by George RR Martin

#im laughing so hard #game of thrones #game of thrones quotes #grrm #joffrey baratheon

No matter how much of what we think passes back and forth during such meetings turns out to be yet another example of humans’ boundless capacity for fooling themselves, the chance to visit whales that go out of their way to visit you is still a tremendous privilege. To me, it feels more like an honor.

The Grandest of Lives: Seeing Eye to Eye With Whales by Douglas Chadwick

#the grandest of lives #douglas chadwick #whales #whale watching #cetaceans

My background is in wildlife biology, and I try to stay objective, But it's a struggle and a constant source of confusion. Being objective means hewing to what you know to be factual, and I no longer think the facts we allow ourselves to work with are up to the job of explaining what some of our fellow creatures are capable of. Who among us has enough facts at hand to define the line between a simple curious approach and a sentient overture? Which animal communication specialist can tell when a whale is, in effect, saying, "That's interesting; let's watch for a while," from when it is saying, "Hello"?

The Grandest of Lives: Seeing Eye to Eye With Whales by Douglas Chadwick

#the grandest of lives #douglas chadwick #animals #nature

People often compare probing the ocean to probing space. They usually mean to convey the idea of exploring the canyon sides and plains of a still largely unknown world. But blue-water diving is like being in space itself -- in that void between stars and planets. Weightless and adrift without a frame of reference in any direction, you have a glimpse of infinity. It is at once beautiful, liberating, and frighteningly impersonal. And, by the way, you are about to run out of breath. [...] You have found a way to slip the bonds of Earth and enter a new state of existence for a minute or two at a time -- more if you can hold your breath and longer.

The Grandest of Lives: Eye to Eye With Whales by Douglas Chadwick

#the grandest of lives #douglas chadwick #ocean #diving

There are undoubtably stranger experiences in life than sitting cross-legged on an outcropping of stone with a severed dragon head facing you like the skull of Gortos himself — indeed, I have had my share over the years — but I must say that one ranks fairly high. Especially when one begins conversing with the head. “This is most undignified for you,” I confided to the staring eyes, their green filming over with grey already. “My apologies. You were on your way to find breakfast, and instead you found us. I don’t suppose it would comfort you to know how much we are learning? No, I imagine not.”

A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir of Lady Trent by Marie Brennan

#a natural history of dragons #marie brennan #fiction

Getting to know whales better is like having laser surgery to clear cataracts from your eyes. Over the years, I've noticed that, as studies of the behavior and intelligence of these and other animals are published, more and more of the conclusions contain the potent phrase "a quality previously thought to be unique to humans" or words to that effect. Our view of Homo sapiens as being fundamentally different and disconnected from the rest of creation is about to change. The implications are as big as the biosphere and the vitality of civilizations within it. This is a crucial stage of history, and to be a whale watcher right now is to have a front row seat.

The Grandest of Lives: Seeing Eye to Eye With Whales by Douglas Chadwick

#the grandest of lives #douglas chadwick #whales #whale watching #cetaceans

OKAY so I am working on getting some stuff up but I'm reading a lot of nonfiction rn, which I am pulling stuff from, but it's not much. Sojust give me a couple of days to get a decent sized queue set up and posting should start back up soon!

#mod post

Why haven't you posted anything in months? I'd really liked the quotes that you used and i'm sure others did too so can u please post some more?

(sorry im just now seeing this)

I stopped because it just got to be too much of a hassle but since its summer and i have nothing but free time, I'll try to get back on track soon

Bossuet was killed; Feuilly was killed; Courfeyrac was killed; Joly was killed; Combeferre, run through with three thrusts of a bayonet to the chest just as he was lifting up a wounded soldier, only had time to look up at the sky before he breathed his last.

Death of Combeferre & Les Amis

#combeferre #les amis #les mis quotes #Les Miserables #les mis #Victor Hugo

"There was one insurgent I heard them call Apollo." A National Guard who was aiming at Enjolras lowered his weapon, saying: "I feel like I'm about to shoot a flower"

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

#enjolras #Les Miserables #les mis #les mis quotes #Victor Hugo

Enjolras had the eyes of the soldiers riveted on him. They had not even spotted Grantaire and the sergeant was getting ready to repeat the order: "Take aim!" when, all of a sudden, they heard a powerful voice shouting right next to them: "Long live the Republic! I'm with them." Grantaire had risen to his feet. The immense blazing light of the fight which he had completely missed, had not taken part in, appeared in the startling gaze of the drunk, transfigured. He repeated: "Long live the Republic!" Then he crossed the room with steady tread and went and planted himself beside Enjolras in front of the raised guns. "You might as well kill two birds with one stone," he said. And, turning to Enjolras gently, he said to him: "Do you permit it?" Enjolras shook his hand with a smile. He was still smiling when the explosion ripped through the silence. Enjolras was riddled with eight shots, but remained with his back against the wall as though the bullets had nailed him to it. Only, he dropped his head. Grantaire, mowed down, crashed to his feet.

The Death of Enjolras & Grantaire

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

#enjolras #grantaire #it physically pained me to type this up #les mis quotes #les amis #Les Miserables #les mis

He sleeps. Though fate for him was truly odd, He lived. He died when his angel was gone; The thing just happened of its own accord, As night comes on when day is done.

Last lines of Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

#Les Miserables #les mis #les mis quotes #jean valjean #Victor Hugo

There can be nothing truly infallible in a human being, and the peculiarity of instinct is precisely its capacity for being clouded, thrown off scent, led astray. And if this were not the case, instinct would be superior to intelligence and the beast would turn out to be more enlightened than man.

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

#Les Miserables #les mis #les mis quotes #Victor Hugo

Animals are nothing more than the forms our virtues and our vices take, trotting around before our very eyes, the visible phantoms of our souls.

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

#Les Miserables #les mis #les mis quotes #Victor Hugo #animals

The ultimate happiness in life is the conviction that one is loved; loved for oneself--better still, loved in spite of onself.

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

#Les Miserables #les mis #les mis quotes #happiness #love #Victor Hugo

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