‘It's beautiful here, but morning light can make the most vulgar things tolerable.’

‘I know what you mean.’ I said, and I did. About the only time of day I had been able to stand was the very early morning, almost dawn, when the streets were empty and the light was golden and kind on the dry grass, the chain-link fences, the solitary scrub-oaks.

quote from secret history by donna tartt

a beautiful way to see the early hours. not as solitude for the sake of hiding, but as a quiet moment to be with yourself. before the world wakes, and it feels like time belongs to no one but you.