"I've seen so many young men over the years who think they're running at other young men. They are not. They're running at me." -Death, on war

"It's hard not to like a man who not only notices the colors, but speaks them."

"The impoverished always try to keep moving, as if relocating might help."

"Irony, he had come to realise, was as vulnerable to the accidents of life and time as any other sense. You woke up one morning and no longer knew if your tongue was in your cheek..."

"If music is tragic, those with asses' ears accuse it of being cynical. But when a composer is bitter, or in despair, or pessimistic, that still means he believes in something."

"Theories were clean and convincing and comprehensible. Life was messy and full of nonsense."

I read about Stalin seeing Shostakovich's opera and having a terrible time and then declaring him a Former Person literally days before Mike Pence saw Hamilton and had a bad time and Trump called on the cast to apologize.

Done! (Finally)

"And this must be especially so, when those with newfound power are men who distrust any form of hesitation or nuance, and who prize self-assurance above all."

The loveliest writing

Reading about scrupulous people being manipulated and undone by less scrupulous people was maybe not the best way to cheer myself up today. :P

Seems relevant in light of recent events