“He found himself remembering how on one summer morning they two had started from New York in search of happiness. They had never expected to find it, perhaps, yet in itself that quest had been happier than anything he expected forevermore.” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Beautiful and Damned

“You know, happiness isn’t a permanent state. Neither is unhappiness. There’s a flow, back and forth.” by Carole Glickfield, Swimming Toward the Ocean: A Novel

“You have to die a few times before you can really live.” by Charles Bukowski, The People Look Like Flowers at Last

“I felt silly for even mentioning it, but once I did, I knew I had to explain.
“When I was a kid, “I had this puzzle with all fifty states on it—you know, the kind where you have to fit them all together. And one day I got it in my head that California and Nevada were in love. I told my mom, and she had no idea what I was talking about. I ran and got those two pieces and showed it to her—California and Nevada, completely in love. So a lot of the time when we’re like this”—my ankles against the backs of your ankles, my knees fitting into the backs of your knees, my thighs on the backs of your legs, my stomach against your back, my chin folding into your neck—“I can’t help but think about California and Nevada, and how we’re a lot like them. If someone were drawing us from above as a map. that’s what we’d look like; that’s how we are.”
For a moment, you were quiet. And then you nestled in and whispered.
“Contiguous.”
And I knew you understood.” by David Levithan, The Lover’s Dictionary

“It is so hard to leave—until you leave. And then it is the easiest goddamned thing in the world.” by John Green, Paper Towns

“Her face looked ugly in the attempt to avoid tears; it was an ugliness which bound him to her more than any beauty could have done. It isn’t being happy together, he thought as though it were a fresh discovery, that makes one love—it’s being unhappy together.” by Graham Greene, The Ministry of Fear: An Entertainment

“Six hundred and forty fish later, the only thing I know is everything you love will die. The first time you meet someone special, you can count on them one day being dead and in the ground.” by Chuck Palahniuk, Survivor

“Why do people have to be this lonely? What’s the point of it all? Millions of people in this world, all of them yearning, looking to others to satisfy them, yet isolating themselves. Why? Was the earth put here just to nourish human loneliness?” by Haruki Muramaki, Sputnik Sweetheart

“I think the key indicator for wealth is not good grades, work ethic, or IQ. I believe it’s relationships. Ask yourself two questions: How many people do I know, and how much ransom money could I get for each one?” by Jarod Kintz

“Rest in Peace?’ Why that phrase? That’s the most ridiculous phrase I’ve ever heard! You die, and they say ‘Rest in Peace!’ …Why would one need to ‘rest’ when they’re dead?! I spent thousands of years of world history resting. While Agamemnon was leading his ships to Troy, I was resting. While Ovid was seducing women at the chariot races, I was resting. While Jeanne d’Arc was hallucinating, I was resting. I wait until airplanes are scuttling across the sky to burst out onto the scene, and I’m only going to be here for a short while, so when I die, I certainly won’t need to rest again! Not while more adventures of the same kind are going on.” by Roman Payne