Luke Commander

“She wasn't ready to settle down, she told her friends. That was one way of putting it. Another was would have been that she had not found anyone to settle down with. There had been several men in her life, but they hadn't been convincing. They'd been somewhat like her table - quickly acquired, brightened up a little, but temporary. The time for that kind of thing was running out, however. She was tired of renting.”
― Margaret Atwood, Moral Disorder and Other Stories

“I want to propose a toast!" Taking a spoon he noisily tapped it against the crystal glass.  "Everyone!" He thundered, the large amount of whiskey he had consumed making him reckless.  "To Victor,  Ste. Genevieve's own inventor and my best friend, all the happiness in the world!"  The happy crowd shouted their approval.  "And to the ever, ever fair beauty Celena..." His voice cracking under the strain, and he wondered if he should stop now, before he embarrassed himself, before he made some horrible declaration.”
― Barbara Sontheimer, Victor's Blessing

“I'm convinced true fulfillment is living in God's world one day at a time, savoring it, leaving today's disapointments behind and borrowing no troubles from tomorrow. It's done not only by accepting life, fever, and things that go bump in the night, but also by cultivating love and new and old friendships, and especially by finding a new work or project that makes it exciting just to get up in the morning.”
― Olive Ann Burns, Leaving Cold Sassy: The Unfinished Sequel to Cold Sassy Tree

“When an airplane's engines fail, it is not the end of the flight. Airplanes don’t fall out of the sky like stones. They glide on, the enormous multi-engined passenger jets, for thirty, forty-five minutes, only to smash themselves up when they attempt a landing. The passengers don’t notice a thing.
" عندما تتوقف محركات الطائرة، فهذا لا يعني نهاية الرحلة. الطائرات لا تسقط من السماء كالحجارة. إنها تنزلق، حاملة الركاب الهائلة ذات المحركات المتعددة ، لثلاثين أو خمسة وأربعين دقيقة ، وتتحطم فقط عندما تهبط ، أما الركاب فلا يلاحظون شيئاً.”
― Bernhard Schlink, The Reader