Paul Auster // “That’s all I’ve ever dreamed of… To make the world a better place. To bring some beauty to the drab humdrum corners of the soul. You can do it with a toaster, you can do it with a poem, you can do it by reaching out your hand to a stranger. It doesn’t matter what form it takes. To leave the world a little better than you found it. That’s the best a man can ever do.”

Toni Morrison // “I think freedom, ideally, is being able to choose your responsibilities. Not not having any responsibilities, but being able to choose which things you want to be responsible for.”

Jack Kerouac // “Happiness consists in realizing it is all a great strange dream.”

Charles Bukowski // “And remember this: the page you are looking at now, I once typed the words with care with you in mind under a yellow light with the radio on.”

Ernest Hemingway // “When people talk, listen completely. Don’t be thinking what you’re going to say. Most people never listen. Nor do they observe. You should be able to go into a room and when you come out, know everything that you saw there and not only that. If that room gave you any feeling you should know exactly what it was that gave you that feeling. Try that for practice.”

Lina Kostenko // “The main thing is to look into the eyes of the beast and simply to remain human.”