欧宝娱乐

“I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.”
― Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest

“It was only a smile, nothing more. It didn't make everything all right. It didn't make ANYTHING all right. Only a smile. A tiny thing. A leaf in the woods, shaking in the wake of a startled bird's flight. But I'll take it. With open arms. Because when spring comes, it melts the snow one flake at a time, and maybe I just witnessed the first flake melting. - Amir”
― Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner

“No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart.”
― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

“聽聽 In 1658, Francis Andrew Ransome stole the Alchemy Scroll from St. Julian鈥檚 college, my present employer. Ransome was a member of a transatlantic group called The Invisible College. They were alchemists, meaning they worked with matter and spirit together.”
― Susan Rowland, The Alchemy Fire Murder

“Aurelia was just about to take a sip of a mimosa when Mother Guardian snatched the flute away and promptly downed the drink in one gulp. Burping unashamedly, she said, "We can't have the validity of the marriage contracts jeopardized because the bride got rat-assed on her wedding day.”
― Therisa Peimer, Taming Flame

“I just wanted to tell you that I understand if you go. It鈥檚 okay if you have to leave us. It鈥檚 okay if you want to stop fighting.”
― Gayle Forman, If I Stay

“Part of the hem floated loose. She spun around again鈥攖he fabric tightened like wool on a spindle. She breathed in fear. The boat was farther away. She swung her head around鈥攕o was the shore.”
― Yvonne Korshak, Pericles and Aspasia: A Story of Ancient Greece

“People don't want their lives fixed. Nobody wants their problems solved. Their dramas. their distractions. Their stories resolved. Their messes cleaned up. Because what would they have left? Just the big scary unknown.”
― Chuck Palahniuk, Survivor

“Which is the greater sin? To care too much? Or too little?”
― K. Ritz, Sheever's Journal, Diary of a Poison Master

“Whither be the heart of Justice?
聽聽 聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Lo, in stone, child. Lo, in stone.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Whither be the heart of Justice?
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Lo, tis fast in stone.”
― K. Ritz, Sheever's Journal, Diary of a Poison Master

“Buying loyalty can be as effective as fear when one鈥檚 rival is poorer than oneself.”
― K. Ritz, Sheever's Journal, Diary of a Poison Master

“The early women rise before I do. Their lamps splinter the gloom of the kitchens. They chatter in whispers as they brew tea for the cooks. Windows are open to counter the heat of the ovens. Outside, the sky is as black as my soul.”
― K. Ritz, Sheever's Journal, Diary of a Poison Master

“Gossip is like thread wound over a spindle of truth, changing its shape.”
― K. Ritz, Sheever's Journal, Diary of a Poison Master

“Mead.
O sweet elixir,
Ye bless the lips and steal the wits.
听&谤诲辩耻辞;
― K. Ritz, Sheever's Journal, Diary of a Poison Master

“At what point does faith become insanity?”
― K. Ritz, Sheever's Journal, Diary of a Poison Master

“This evening I spied her in the back orchard. I decided to sacrifice one of my better old shirts and carried it out to her. The weather鈥檚 been warm of late. Buds on the apple trees are ready to burst. Usually by this time of the year, at that time of day, the back orchard is full of screaming children. Damut鈥檚 boys were the only two. They were on the terrace below her, running through the slanted sunlight, chasing each other around tree trunks. She stood above them, like a merlin watching rabbits play.”
― K. Ritz, Sheever's Journal, Diary of a Poison Master

“If one does not react to gossip, the informer hushes more quickly.”
― K. Ritz, Sheever's Journal, Diary of a Poison Master

“I can't go on, I'll go on.”
― Samuel Beckett, I Can't Go On, I'll Go On: A Samuel Beckett Reader

“This world would be a pleasant place if people didn鈥檛 inhabit it.”
― K. Ritz, Sheever's Journal, Diary of a Poison Master

“Snake Street is an area I should avoid. Yet that night I was drawn there as surely as if I had an appointment.聽
The Snake House is shabby on the outside to hide the wealth within. Everyone knows of the wealth, but facades, like the park鈥檚 wall, must be maintained. A lantern hung from the porch eaves. A sign, written in Utte, read 鈥楰inship of the Serpent鈥�. I stared at that sign, at that porch, at the door with its twisted handle, and wondered what the people inside would do if I entered. Would they remember me? Greet me as Kin? Or drive me out and curse me for faking my death?聽 Worse, would they expect me to redon the life I鈥檝e shed? Staring at that sign, I pissed in the street like the Mearan savage I鈥檝e become.
As I started to leave, I saw a woman sitting in the gutter. Her lamp attracted me. A memsa鈥檚 lamp, three tiny flames to signify the Holy Trinity of Faith, Purity, and Knowledge.聽 The woman wasn鈥檛 a memsa. Her young face was bruised and a gash on her throat had bloodied her clothing. Had she not been calmly assessing me, I would have believed the wound to be mortal. I offered her a copper.聽
She refused, 鈥淚 take naught for naught,鈥� and began to remove trinkets from a cloth bag, displaying them for sale.
Her Utte accent had been enough to earn my coin. But to assuage her pride I commented on each of her worthless treasures, fighting the urge to speak Utte. (I spoke Universal with the accent of an upper class Mearan though I wondered if she had seen me wetting the cobblestones like a shameless commoner.) After she had arranged her wares, she looked up at me. 鈥淲hat do you desire, O Noble Born?鈥�
I laughed, certain now that she had seen my act in front of the Snake House and, letting my accent match the coarseness of my dress, I again offered the copper.
聽鈥淣ay, Noble One. You must choose.鈥� She lifted a strand of red beads. 鈥淭hese to adorn your lady鈥檚 bosom?鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I shook my head. I wanted her lamp. But to steal the light from this woman ... I couldn鈥檛 ask for it. She reached into her bag once more and withdrew a book, leather-bound, the pages gilded on the edges. 鈥淏e this worthy of desire, Noble Born?鈥�
聽I stood stunned a moment, then touched the crescent stamped into the leather and asked if she鈥檇 stolen the book. She denied it. I鈥檝e had the Training; she spoke truth. Yet how could she have come by a book bearing the Royal Seal of the Haesyl Line? I opened it. The pages were blank.
鈥淭ake it,鈥� she urged. 鈥淩ecord your deeds for study. Lo, the steps of your life mark the journey of your soul.鈥�
聽 I told her I couldn鈥檛 afford the book, but she smiled as if poverty were a blessing and said, 鈥淭he price be one copper. Tis a wee price for salvation, Noble One.鈥�
聽 So I bought this journal. I hide it under my mattress. When I lie awake at night, I feel the journal beneath my back and think of the woman who sold it to me. Damn her. She plagues my soul. I promised to return the next night, but I didn鈥檛. I promised to record my deeds. But I can鈥檛. The price is too high.”
― K. Ritz, Sheever's Journal, Diary of a Poison Master

“While an elderly man in his mid-eighties looks curiously at a porno site, his grandson asks him from afar, 鈥溾€榃hat are you reading, grandpa?鈥欌€� 鈥溾€業t鈥檚 history, my boy.鈥欌€� 鈥淭he grandson comes nearer and exclaims, 鈥溾€楤ut this is a porno site, grandpa, naked chicks, sex . . . a lot of sex!鈥欌€� 鈥溾€榃ell, it鈥檚 sex for you, my son, but for me it鈥檚 history,鈥� the old man says with a sigh.鈥� All of people in the cabin burst into laughter. 鈥淎 stale joke, but a cool one,鈥� added William More, the man who just told the joke. The navigator skillfully guided the flying disc among the dense orange-yellow blanket of clouds in the upper atmosphere that they had just entered. Some of the clouds were touched with a brownish hue at the edges. The rest of the pilots gazed curiously and intently outwards while taking their seats. The flying saucer descended slowly, the navigator鈥檚 actions exhibiting confidence. He glanced over at the readings on the monitors below the transparent console: Atmosphere: Dense, 370 miles thick, 98.4% nitrogen, 1.4% methane Temperature on the surface: 鈥�179掳C / 鈥�290掳F Density: 1.88 g/cm鲁 Gravity: 86% of Earth鈥檚 Diameter of the cosmic body: 3200 miles / 5150 km.”
― Todor Bombov, Homo Cosmicus 2: Titan: A Science Fiction Novel

“All the world's a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed.”
― Se谩n O'Casey

“A day wasted on others is not wasted on one's self.”
― Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

“She's just one of the plethora of women you rotate through your bed." Lily looked scared out of her mind as the queen changed direction and stalked her. "I will not allow you to besmirch the Esca name with your filthy plot to steal the prince.”
― Therisa Peimer, Taming Flame

“Her unexpected outburst rocked Flaminius to his core. Suddenly, she didn't seem so angelic. Her face twisted with rage; veins in her neck throbbed with fury in a scene all too familiar. Her reaction switched him off to her instantly as all his worst fears came to life.”
― Therisa Peimer, Taming Flame

“I'm so proud of you I could burst, but in the interest of saving the poor cleaning staff the hassle, I would, instead, like to take you to our room and lick you from stem to stern until you beg me to stop.”
― Therisa Peimer, Taming Flame

“聽聽聽聽 Illicit flight Alfa Bravo Charlie quickly reached a predetermined altitude and stopped dead. The passengers on board screamed the way people do on fairground rides. The shuttle hesitated momentarily and then shot forward accelerating rapidly to reach a blistering 145,222 miles per hour. They were in a Mach 22 situation. The cries from on-board could not be heard from the ground. Neither did anyone in the great metropolis of Llar witness the bright blue vapour trail the craft left behind in its wake. It was after all overcast and raining heavily.”
― A.R. Merrydew, Our Blue Orange

“A virgin," Flaminius smiled deviously. "I'll take her." Instantly, surprised chatter erupted. Mother Guardian held up her hand for silence. "You cannot be serious, Sire." "Oh, but I am," he replied with a smirk.”
― Therisa Peimer, Taming Flame

“Tightening his embrace around his wife and little Theo, he vowed, "I will do everything in my power to continue being worthy of the faith you have in me.”
― Therisa Peimer, Taming Flame

“Mom, please don't use 'the happy voice.' It reminds me of the day Tinkles died."
"Who was Tinkles?" Sue asked around a mouthful of pancake.
"My cat. When I was five, Tinkles died choking on a mouse that was a bit ambitious for a kitten to eat."
"It was terribly traumatic for Aurelia because it was the first time she'd experienced loss."聽
"What did you do to help her get through it?"聽
Rosalind smiled at Mother Guardian. "Well, after a good cry, we performed an autopsy."
Aurelia reached for her mother's hand. "I never thanked you for that.”
― Therisa Peimer, Taming Flame