He would reach for me in the middle of the night, nearly every single night, wrapping one of those solid arms around my waist and pulling me in close. So. Close.
― Chelsie Shakespeare, The Pull

 

Below is the original photo used to create this image. Found this beautiful blooming tree on a walk through my neighborhood. No special lighting or retouching, just a snap from my smart phone.

People come, people go – they’ll drift in and out of your life, almost like characters in a favorite book. When you finally close the cover, the characters have told their story and you start up again with another book, complete with new characters and adventures. Then you find yourself focusing on the new ones, not the ones from the past.
― Nicholas Sparks, The Rescue

 

Below is the original photo used to create this image. Now that I’m working from home, this is a part of my new office view. No special lighting or retouching, just a snap from my smart phone.

Is it possible, in the final analysis, for one human being to achieve perfect understanding of another?
We can invest enormous time and energy in serious efforts to know another person, but in the end, how close can we come to that person’s essence? We convince ourselves that we know the other person well, but do we really know anything important about anyone?
― Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

 

 

Below is the original photo used to create this image. These lovely lavender blooms were discovered on a lunchtime walk around the capital grounds in Richmond, VA. No special lighting or retouching, just a snap from my smart phone.

  

 

And I closed my eyes because I wanted to know nothing but her arms.
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

 

 

Below is the original photo used to create this image. These pretties were arranged in planters at a local outdoor mall. No special lighting or retouching, just a snap from my smart phone.

Listen to the mustn’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me… Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.
― Shel Silverstein

 

Below is the original photo used to create this image. This is a royalty-free image from Pixabay.

Part of me aches at the thought of her being so close yet so untouchable, but her story and mine are different now. It wasn’t easy for me to accept this simple truth, because there was a time when our stories were the same, but that was six years and two lifetimes ago.
― Nicholas Sparks, Dear John

Below is the original photo used to create this image. Now that I’m working from home, this is a part of my new office view. No special lighting or retouching, just a snap from my smart phone.

It is an absolute human certainty that no one can know his own beauty or perceive a sense of his own worth until it has been reflected back to him in the mirror of another loving, caring human being.
― John Joseph Powell, The Secret of Staying in Love

 

Below is the original photo used to create this image. These sweet roses were a gift for my birthday last year. No special lighting or retouching, just a snap from my smart phone.

Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in.
― Isaac Asimov

 

Below is the original photo used to create this image. This is a royalty-free image from Pixabay.

It is by loving, and not by being loved, that one can come nearest the soul of another; yea, that, where two love, it is the loving of each other, that originates and perfects and assures their blessedness. I knew that love gives to him that loveth, power over over any soul be loved, even if that soul know him not, bringing him inwardly close to that spirit; a power that cannot be but for good; for in proportion as selfishness intrudes, the love ceases, and the power which springs therefrom dies. Yet all love will, one day, meet with its return.
― George MacDonald, Phantastes

 

 

Below is the original photo used to create this image. These lovely lavender blooms were discovered on a lunchtime walk around the capital grounds in Richmond, VA. No special lighting or retouching, just a snap from my smart phone.

  

 

I will take the sun in my mouth
and leap into the ripe air
Alive
with closed eyes
to dash against darkness
― E. Cummings, Poems, 1923-1954

 

 

Below is the original photo used to create this image. These pretties were arranged in planters at a local outdoor mall. No special lighting or retouching, just a snap from my smart phone.