Yongqing Lin

“Can I tell you something very interesting about ships?"

It wasn't exactly what Glenda had expected, but somehow it was one hundred percent Nutt. "Please tell me the interesting thing about ships," she said.

"The interesting thing about ships is that the captains of ships have to be very careful when two ships are close together at sea, particularly in calm conditions. They tend to collide.

"To put it simply, each ship shields the other ship from lateral waves on one side, so by small increments outside forces bring them closer without their realising it."

"Oh! It's a metaphor?" said Glenda, relieved. "You think we're being pushed together . . . if we don't do anything we'll just get closer and closer?"

"Yes," said Nutt.”
― Terry Pratchett, Unseen Academicals

“He would only shrug and look at me expectantly again, waiting for high magic: magic that came only when you made some larger version of yourself with words and promises, and then stepped inside and somehow grew to fill it.”
― Naomi Novik, Spinning Silver

“in law, we talk about a beautiful summation, or a beautiful judgment: and what we mean by that, of course, is the loveliness of not only its logic but its expression. And similarly, in math, when we talk about a beautiful proof, what we’re recognizing is the simplicity of the proof, its … elementalness, I suppose: its inevitability.”
― Hanya Yanagihara, A Little Life

“Someday, I just want to marry a regular girl who isn't too ugly and not too pretty. Have two children, first a girl, then a boy. Retire after my daughter is married and my son becomes a successful, and spend the rest of my life playing shōgi or Go. Then die of old age before my wife.”
― Nara Shikamaru