„A willing heart adds feather to the heel,
And makes the clown a winged Mercury.“

„Like a young eagle who has lent his plume
To fledge the shaft by which he meets his doom,
See their own feathers pluck'd to wing the dart
Which rank corruption destines for their heart.“

—  Thomas Moore Irish poet, singer and songwriter 1779 - 1852

Corruption.
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)

„He is killer and clown, big-hearted buffoon and strutting martinet.“

—  Idi Amin third president of Uganda 1925 - 2003

Uganda. Amin:The Wild Man of Africa, March 07, 1977, Time magazine.

„We are the zanies of sorrow. We are clowns whose hearts are broken.“

—  Oscar Wilde, livre De Profundis

De Profundis (1897)

„The time has to be right and the heart willing.“

—  Jeffrey Eugenides, livre Virgin Suicides

Source: The Virgin Suicides

„I consider myself a troll at heart. Making people bristle, being a little outrageous in order to add some spice to life—I get that. I’ve done that.“

—  Steve Huffman American businessman 1983

The New Yorker: "Reddit and the Struggle to Detoxify the Internet" https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/03/19/reddit-and-the-struggle-to-detoxify-the-internet (19 March 2018)

„Sadness flies on the wings of the morning, and out of the heart of darkness comes the light.“

—  Jean Giraudoux French novelist, essayist, diplomat and playwright 1882 - 1944

„Why did I become a writer? A bird's feather on my windowpane in winter and all at once there arose in my heart a battle of embers never to subside again.“

—  René Char 20th-century French poet 1907 - 1988

A statement written soon after the end of World War II, as quoted in René Char : This Smoke That Carried Us : Selected Poems (2004) edited by Susanne Dubroff

„No, there is no escape. There is no heaven with a little of hell in it - no place to retain this or that of the devil in our hearts or our pockets. Out Satan must go, every hair and feather.“

—  George MacDonald Scottish journalist, novelist 1824 - 1905

„Indeed, the more we find to love, the more we add to the measure of our hearts.“

—  Lloyd Alexander, livre The Black Cauldron

Source: The Black Cauldron

„My heart's prepared for aching
The moment you take wing.
But not, my friend, for breaking
While there's another spring.“

—  Yip Harburg American song lyricist 1896 - 1981

"Irreverent Heart"
Rhymes for the Irreverent (1965)
Contexte: My heart is like the willow
That bends, but never breaks.
It sighs when summer jilts her,
It sings when April wakes. So you, who come a-smiling
With summer in your eyes,
Think not that your beguiling
Will take me by surprise. My heart's prepared for aching
The moment you take wing.
But not, my friend, for breaking
While there's another spring.

„The song within your heart could never rise
Until love bade it spread its wings and soar.“

—  Joyce Kilmer American poet, editor, literary critic, soldier 1886 - 1918

Main Street and Other Poems (1917), In Memory

„Home—that blessed word, which opens to the human heart the most perfect glimpse of Heaven, and helps to carry it thither, as on an angel’s wings.“

—  Lydia Maria Child American abolitionist, author and women's rights activist 1802 - 1880

1840s, Letters from New York (1843)
Source: Letters from New York http://www.bartleby.com/66/61/12261.html, vol. 1, letter 34

„Cary rocked back on his heels and twirled one index finger around another in a sign meaning, wrapped around your finger., I thought, since he was wrapped around my heart.“

—  Sylvia Day, livre Bared to You

Source: Bared to You

„Love is a sweet and unmistakable feeling that vibrates only in the heart of someone who is capable and really willing to love.“

—  Prevale Italian DJ and producer 1983

Original: L'amore è un dolce e inconfondibile sentimento che vibra solo nel cuore di chi è capace e disposto davvero ad amare.

„Secrets, silent, stony sit in the dark palaces of both our hearts: secrets weary of their tyranny: tyrants willing to be dethroned.“

—  James Joyce Irish novelist and poet 1882 - 1941

„It's about gambling, fate, listening to your heart, and having the strength to fight the darkness that's always willing to carry you off.“

—  KT Tunstall Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist 1975

As quoted in "What's On: Soul's latest talent" in Birmingham Evening Mail (12 February 2005).
Contexte: "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" is inspired by old blues, Nashville psycho hillbillies & hazy memories. It tells the story of finding yourself lost on your path, and a choice has to be made. It's about gambling, fate, listening to your heart, and having the strength to fight the darkness that's always willing to carry you off.

„Now the heart is so full that a drop overfills it;
We are happy now because God wills it.“

—  James Russell Lowell American poet, critic, editor, and diplomat 1819 - 1891

Prelude to Pt. I, st. 6
The Vision of Sir Launfal (1848)

„I immediately felt so comfortable there. Or if not comfortable, at least willing to bear the discomforts because they fit the awkward places in my heart.“

—  Orson Scott Card American science fiction novelist 1951

Treason (1988)

„She had willed her heart to stay small and contained, but it wouldn’t be. Oh, well.“

—  Ann Brashares, livre Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood

Source: Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood