“I remember staring at the computer screen--light green letters on dark--then at the clock, and finally at my outstretched fingers held a foot in front of my face. And then it dawned on me: selling the hours of my life was no different from selling my fingers one by one. We've only so many hours, so many fingers; when they're gone, they're gone for good.”

— Derrick Jensen, book A Language Older Than Words

A Language Older Than Words (2000)

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Derrick Jensen31

American environmentalist 1960

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“I held a jewel in my fingers
And went to sleep.
The day was warm, and winds were prosy;
I said: "'T will keep."

I woke and chid my honest fingers,—
The gem was gone;
And now an amethyst remembrance
Is all I own.”

Emily Dickinson book The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson

Source: The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson

“Turning away from the computer I saw through my own narrow window (at least it opened) the green, the blue, the flashes. I looked to the clock, the screen, the window. An hour passed, then two. I looked again at the clock and saw it had been only twenty minutes. I willed the second-hand, the minute-hand, the hour-hand to move faster, to deliver me to five o'clock when I would be released as from my prison term. Then suddenly I stopped, struck by the absurdity of wishing away the only thing I've got. Eight hours, eighty years, it was all too similar. Would I wish away the years until the day of my retirement, until my time was once again my own? At work I tried to keep busy to make the hours pass quickly. It was no different when watching television, socializing, moving frenetically--there are so many ways to kill time.”

Derrick Jensen book A Language Older Than Words

A Language Older Than Words (2000)

“I held out my hand to his face, wiping away the tears from his eyes, tears that I savored from my fingers, thus knowing the taste of my life.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: (it) Tesi la mano verso il suo volto asciugandole le lacrime dagli occhi, lacrime che assaporai dalle mie dita, conoscendo così, il sapore della mia vita.
Source: prevale.net

“His face was blue, on his fingers
Flecks of green. 'This is my father',
I thought.”

Al Alvarez (1929–2019) English poet, novelist, essayist and critic

Poem Mourning and Melancholia.

“I love the dark hours of my being.
My mind deepens into them.
There I can find, as in old letters,
the days of my life, already lived,
and held like a legend, and understood.”

Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926) Austrian poet and writer

Source: Rilke's Book of Hours: Love Poems to God

“My troubles are many
They're deep as a well
I swear there ain't no Heaven
And I pray there ain't no hell
But I'll never know by living
only my dying will tell.
And when I die
and when I'm gone
There'll be, one child born
And a world to carry on, to carry on.”

Laura Nyro (1947–1997) American musician and songwriter

"And When I Die"
Lyrics

“My letters are for when I don't want to be in love anymore. They're for good-bye. Because after I write in my letter, I'm not longer consumed by my all-consuming love… My letters set me free. Or at least they're supposed to.”

Jenny Han book To All the Boys I've Loved Before

Source: To All the Boys I've Loved Before

“How many good male artists are there? The number of living artists I truly esteem I can put on one hand and I wouldn't even have to lift up all my fingers - and that breaks my heart.”

Helen Frankenthaler (1928–2011) American artist

1970s - 1980s, interview with Deborah Salomon in 'New York Times', 1989

“But I talk to you as I talk to my own soul," he said, turning me to face him. He reached up and cupped my cheek, fingers light on my temple.

"And, Sassenach," he whispered, "your face is my heart.”

Diana Gabaldon book Dragonfly in Amber

Variant: I talk to you as I talk to my own soul," he said, turning me to face him. He reached up and cupped my cheek, fingers light on my temple. "And Sassenach," he whispered, "Your face is my heart.
Source: Dragonfly in Amber

“I’ve gone through so many dark periods of my life, but my art has always been there. I firmly believe in this way of living, and I hope to die like this.”

Tan Kheng Hua (1963) Singaporean actress

"Tan Kheng Hua Talks ‘Kung Fu,’ ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ and Living for Her Art" in Observer (22 April 2021) https://observer.com/2021/04/tan-kheng-hua-kung-fu-interview-crazy-rich-asians/

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Derrick Jensen31

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