Almost always it is the fear of being ourselves that brings us to the mirror. – Antonio Porchia, Voces, 1943, translated from Spanish by W.S. Merwin

[T]he hours are even now never so full of gain as when I give them to the sky, the sea, the open wold. Why should we grudge Nature our heart? We might as well grudge it to the God who made the world. – Adeline Sergeant, The Story of a Penitent Soul: Being the Private Papers of Mr.

When I dance, I dance; when I sleep, I sleep. Nay, and when I walk alone in a beautiful Orchard, if my Thoughts are some part of the Time taken up with strange Occurrences, I some part of the Time call them back again to my Walk, or to the Orchard, to the Sweetness of the Solitude, and to my self. – Michel de Montaigne, “Of Experience,” translated from French by Charles Cotton

Falling, falling, falling, falling down. Look yourself in the eye before you drown. – Emily Saliers, “Center Stage,” Indigo Girls, 1989