“The best thing for being sad”, replied Merlin, beginning to  puff  and blow, “is to learn something. That’s the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honor trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then – to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust , never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn.”

-T.H.White, The Once and Future King

“Be it wealth, fame, career success, or a happy marriage, the nature of the goal itself is less important than identifying the heart’s deepest desire and- without question, fear or apology-going out to get it.”

– Women from the Ankle Down: The Story of Shoes and How They Define Us, Rachelle Bergstein

“In England things were topsy-turvy. The word couscous, though ordinary, was treated with reverence. Yet the word shame , though substantial, was taken quite lightly.”

– Honor, Elif Shafak

“I don’t think it would have all got me quite so down if just once in a while- just once in a while- there was at least some polite little perfunctory implication that knowledge should lead to wisdom, and that if it doesn’t, it’s just a disgusting waste of time!”

– Franny and Zooey, J.D.Salinger