Emily Dickinson, From A Letter To Mary Bowles (about December 1858)

Emily Dickinson, from a letter to Mary Bowles (about December 1858)

honestly that "it costs 0 dollars to be kind" bullshit is bullshit. it does cost things to be kind. it costs time. it costs energy. and it isn't always easy and it isn't always natural. it costs so much to be kind, sometimes. but that's the whole point. if being kind were easy, or simple, every single person would be an angel. but they're not, and the world isn't easy and simple. so no, it does cost something to be kind. but it's worth it anyway.

too many people regard love as something that just happens to someone instead of something that needs a lifetime of devotion, tender cultivation, and constant care and effort

and maybe love starts that way for many, in the same way that a seed can take root in soil without much help - but the seed doesn’t become a rose without watering, the right climate, proper pruning, and careful devotion to its growth from the gardeners

— vladimir nabokov, in a letter to his wife [24 march 1937] from letters to véra (trans. olga voronina & brian boyd)

Maggie Nelson, from Something Bright, Then Holes