Morisia

“What would life be like if it were not futile? Futility is the foundation upon which it rests. On what other foundation could it have been based which would have held and never given way? A great idea can be undermined by another great idea and, in due course, be demolished by it. But futility is inaccessible, indestructible, immovable. It is a true foundation and that is why it has been chosen as such.”
― Pär Lagerkvist, The Dwarf

“I know love,"
Says the littlest one.
"Love is like a flower."

"Why is love a flower?
Little one tell me."

"Love is a flower
For the sweetness it gives
Before it dies away.”
― Guy Gavriel Kay, The Lions of Al-Rassan

“The soul must bend to endure.”
― Guy Gavriel Kay, Lord of Emperors

“This was not a beauty that warmed one. It cut, like a weapon. There was no nuance of gentleness in her, no shading of care, but fair she was, as is the flight of an arrow before it kills.”
― Guy Gavriel Kay, The Fionavar Tapestry