Ursula K. Le Guin

Love doesn't just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; re-made all the time, made new.

Morning comes whether you set the alarm or not.

"Socrates said, "The misuse of language induces evil in the soul." He wasn’t talking about grammar. To misuse language is to use it the way politicians and advertisers do, for profit, without taking responsibility for what the words mean. Language used as a means to get power or make money goes wrong: it lies. Language used as an end in itself, to sing a poem or tell a story, goes right, goes towards the truth.

A writer is a person who cares what words mean, what they say, how they say it. Writers know words are their way towards truth and freedom, and so they use them with care, with thought, with fear, with delight. By using words well they strengthen their souls. Story-tellers and poets spend their lives learning that skill and art of using words well. And their words make the souls of their readers stronger, brighter, deeper."

It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.

To oppose something is to maintain it.

True myths may serve for thousands of years as an inexhaustible source of intellectual speculation, religious joy, ethical inquiry, and artistic renewal. The real mystery is not destroyed by reason. The fake one is. You look at it and it vanishes. You look at the Blonde Hero--really look--and he turns into a gerbil. But you look at Apollo, and he looks back at you. The poet Rilke looked at a statue of Apollo about fifty years ago, and Apollo spoke to him. "You must change your life," he said. When the true myth rises into consciousness, that is always its message. You must change your life.

You can't crush ideas by suppressing them. You can only crush them by ignoring them.

Love does not just sit there, like a stone; it had to be made, like bread, remade all the time, made new.

When action grows unprofitable, gather information; when information grows unprofitable, sleep."

It's queer that daylight's not enough. We need the shadows, in order to walk.