Jessamyn West

"A broken bone can heal, but the wound a word opens can fester forever. "

"A religious awakening which does not awaken the sleeper to love has roused him in vain. "

"A taste for irony has kept more hearts from breaking than a sense of humor, for it takes irony to appreciate the joke which is on oneself. "

"It is the loving, not the loved, woman who feels loveable. "

"It is very easy to forgive others their mistakes it takes more grit and gumption to forgive them for having witnessed your own. "

"We want the facts to fit the preconceptions. When they don't, it is easier to ignore the facts than to change the preconceptions. "

"Writing is a solitary occupation. Family, friends, and society are the natural enemies of the writer. He must be alone, uninterrupted, and slightly savage if he is to sustain and complete an undertaking. "