Close Enough

“أريد الصمت كي أحيا، ولكن الذي ألقاه ينطقني..”
― أحمد مطر

“By the time the day to be released arrived, I was grateful that my father had passed on. If he had raised me on his own, it was almost certain that we were close, and that he loved me a great deal. For all I knew, I had been his whole world. How would it be to have a son who couldn't remember playing catch with you, who couldn't remember all the scrapes you'd got him out of as a kid, and who didn't love you anymore because he didn't know you? I was saddened he was dead, but glad I didn't have to hurt him.”
― Bobby Underwood, Dark Corridor

“People who have a religion should be glad, for not everyone has the gift of believing in heavenly things. You don't necessarily even have to be afraid of punishment after death; purgatory, hell, and heaven are things that a lot of people can't accept, but still a religion, it doesn't matter which, keeps a person on the right path. It isn't the fear of God but the upholding of one's own honor and conscience. How noble and good everyone could be if, every evening before falling asleep, they were to recall to their minds the events of the while day and consider exactly what has been good and bad. Then, without realizing it you try to improve yourself at the start of each new day; of course, you achieve quite a lot in the course of time. Anyone can do this, it costs nothing and is certainly very helpful. Whoever doesn't know it must learn and find by experience that: "A quiet conscience mades one strong!”
― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

“من يلم هذا البكاء ويهديه إلى أمي ,
لقد أرهقتها بالغياب ,
صارت في الشوارع محسورة الرأس
تبحث عن بكاءٍ تستر به الأرض .
أعطوها بكاء أسعفوها لكي تصبر علي ,
فإنني أمعن في التيه”
― قاسم حداد