Urgency and despair don't get along well.
N.K. Jemisin, The Obelisk Gate.
“Jija killed his own son for what a completely different person did, long before that son's birth. This, more than anything, helps her finally understand that there is no reasoning with her father's...”
“Denying what you are didn't keep people from knowing what you are.""And flaunting it isn't what saved you."Ykka takes a deep breath. The muscles in her jaw flex, relax. "And that would be why I ask...”
“There is such a thing as too much loss. Too much has been taken from you both - taken and taken and taken, until there's nothing left but hope, and you've given that up because it hurts too much. U...”
“The way of the world isn't the strong devouring the weak, but the weak deceiving and poisoning and whispering in the ears of the strong until they become weak, too.”
“All that stuff about Father Earth, it's just stories to explain what's wrong with the world. Like those weird cults that crop up from time to time. I heard of one that asks an old man in the sky to...”
“You have seen so much purposeless suffering that at least being killed for a reason can be borne?”
“The unceasing flow of thought in all its various forms is an inescapable and defining aspect of the human condition.”
“You can't make decisions based on fear and the possibility of what might happen.”
“The straight line, a respectable optical illusion which ruins many a man.”
“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they ...”
“Does anything in nature despair except man? An animal with a foot caught in a trap does not seem to despair. It is too busy trying to survive. It is all closed in, to a kind of still, intense waiti...”
“It is a curious thing, but as one travels the world getting older and older, it appears that happiness is easier to get used to than despair. The second time you have a root beer float, for instanc...”