Virtuous Libertines

“ I loved my wounds, not because they hurt but because they were like a gun in my pocket. They gave me a power that no one knew I had. Maybe, I thought, I should just exercise that power now. Maybe I should give up on this idea of a last hurrah. Why bother? If I was going to die, then did it really matter how I spent my final hour? Cavorting in the arms of a prostitute or walking down Fifth Avenue drinking a lemonade—what did it matter?" - Supervert, Necrophilia Variations Art by Miles Johnston

“He in his madness prays for storms, and dreams that storms will bring him peace.” — Leo Tolstoy, The Death of Ivan Ilych Man of Sorrows(1480) by Robin Isely

Painting by Ron Hicks

"Sometimes I dance, alone, to music no-one can hear but me. When I dance I feel the beat of the earth’s own heart rise through my feet and legs, through my loins and belly and into my chest, until my own heart beats in time with the earth’s. Then I wonder if you feel it too, beneath that portion of the earth’s crust where you stand, or walk, or lie, or dance too. Because always, when I’m dancing, I’m dancing with you." - Sarah Bower, The Book of Love

“...and there you have it, another body on the floor surrounded by things that don't mean much to anyone except to the one who can't take any of them along. ” ― Mark Z. Danielewski, House of Leaves

Art by Hieu Nguyen / Kelogsloops

“Now and then there are readings that make the hairs on the neck, the non-existent pelt, stand on end and tremble, when every word burns and shines hard and clear and infinite and exact, like stones of fire, like points of stars in the dark—readings when the knowledge that we shall know the writing differently or better or satisfactorily, runs ahead of any capacity to say what we know, or how. In these readings, a sense that the text has appeared to be wholly new, never before seen, is followed, almost immediately, by the sense that it was always there, that we the readers, knew it was always there, and have always known it was as it was, though we have now for the first time recognised, become fully cognisant of, our knowledge." - A.S. Byatt, Possession

Art by Konstantin Razumov

Painting by Luis Ricardo Falero

Madonna in Glory by Carlo Dolci, detail

“Someday, we’ll run into each other again, I know it. Maybe I’ll be older and smarter and just plain better. If that happens, that’s when I’ll deserve you. But now, at this moment, you can’t hook your boat to mine, because I’m liable to sink us both.” - Gabrielle Zevin, Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac

"All the girls in the world were divided into two classes: one class included all the girls in the world except her, and they had all the usual human feelings and were very ordinary girls; while the other class -herself alone- had no weaknesses and was superior to all humanity." - Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

"Destiny is usually just around the corner. Like a thief, a hooker, or a lottery vendor: its three most common personifications. But what destiny does not do is home visits. You have to go for it." - Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind

Painting by Roberto Ferri

Photography by Alexandra Bochkareva

"Death is a part of Life, they are dancing together the dance of infinity in front of the gates of Time. We can live our dreams as we are dreaming our future. Time is the Endless Consciousness." - Grigoris Deoudis

Paolo e Virginia by Alessandro Puttinati