„Then such grief took possession of my soul that my heart was wrung, and I felt as though I were dying; and then . . . then I awoke.“

— Fyodor Dostoyevsky

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„Alas! I always loved sorrow and tribulation, but only for myself, for myself; but I wept over them, pitying them. I stretched out my hands to them in despair, blaming, cursing and despising myself. I told them that all this was my doing, mine alone; that it was I had brought them corruption, contamination and falsity. I besought them to crucify me, I taught them how to make a cross. I could not kill myself, I had not the strength, but I wanted to suffer at their hands. I yearned for suffering, I longed that my blood should be drained to the last drop in these agonies. But they only laughed at me, and began at last to look upon me as crazy. They justified me, they declared that they had only got what they wanted themselves, and that all that now was could not have been otherwise. At last they declared to me that I was becoming dangerous and that they should lock me up in a madhouse if I did not hold my tongue. Then such grief took possession of my soul that my heart was wrung, and I felt as though I were dying; and then... then I awoke.“
— Fyodor Dostoyevsky
„America took me into her bosom when there was no longer a country worthy of the name, but in my heart I am German – German in my soul.“
— Marlene Dietrich
„With every step I took away from her, the movement at my heart and between my legs grew more defined: I felt like a ventriloquist, locking his protesting dolls in to a trunk.“
— Sarah Waters
„I put my heart and soul into my work, and I have lost my mind in the process.“
— Vincent Van Gogh
„I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart: I am, I am, I am.“
— Sylvia Plath
„I once loved a woman, a child I am toldI gave her my heart but she wanted my soul.“
— Bob Dylan