We accumulate pain, collect it. ... We display it, stack it up into a pile, then we stack it up into a mountain, so we can climb up onto it, waiting for or demanding sympathy: "Hey, do you see how… — Marlena De Blasi Copy Share Image
Much of my crying is for joy and wonder rather than for pain. A trumpet's wailing, a wind's warm breath, the chink of a bell on an errant lamb, the smoke from a candle just spent, first light, twilight, firelight.… — Marlena De Blasi Copy Share Image
“It was Don Paolo's birthday and all the people of the village were gathered in the piazza to celebrate him. The band played, the wine flowed, the children danced, and, as he stood for a moment alone under the pergola, a little girl approached the the beloved priest. "But Don Paolo, are you not happy?" she asked him. "Of course… — Marlena De Blasi Copy Share
“They all know the truth, that there are only three subjects worth talking about. At least here in these parts," he says, "The weather, which, as they're farmers, affects everything else. Dying and birthing, of both people and animals. And what we eat - this last item comprising what we ate the day before and what we're planning to eat… — Marlena De Blasi Copy Share
We accumulate pain, collect it. ... We display it, stack it up into a pile, then we stack it up into a mountain, so… — Marlena De Blasi Copy Share Image
“You know I've always wanted someone to sing to me, but now I know that what I want more is to sing to you.” — Marlena De Blasi Copy Share Image
“I have never before gathered eggs from under a hen. Fernando has never before seen a hen. We bend low into the shed where perch a dozen or so fat lady birds. There's no shrieking or fluttering at all. I approach one and ask if she has an egg or two. Nothing. I ask in Italian. Still nothing. I ask… — Marlena de Blasi Copy Share
“Gauntlets are the stuff of every life, but when you learn, young, how to pick them up, how to work them against the demons,… — Marlena de Blasi Copy Share Image
“Some people are born empty. All manner of good deeds and patience and loving kindness can't even begin to fill them up.” — Marlena De Blasi Copy Share Image
“Rather than being love-blinded, it is in love that I can see, really see.” — Marlena De Blasi Copy Share Image
Living as a couple never means that each gets half. You must take turns at giving more than getting. It’s not the same as… — Marlena De Blasi Copy Share Image
“She's a woman. Like a chameleon does, a woman quietly blends into all the parts of her life. Sometimes you can hardly tell she's… — Marlena De Blasi Copy Share Image
“You will sustain your rage, using time as a defense against fear and indolence. In the great stash of defenses, time is the one… — Marlena De Blasi Copy Share Image
