✯ natasha romanova
i discovered the writer, leo tolstoy, in a muddy ditch that held more blood than rain. one of the soldiers loved his words—and then, so did i. “all, everything, that i understand,” he wrote, “i understand only because i love.” that was so many years ago. but words on a page didn’t teach me that lesson. i learned it on my own. i learned it in trenches with bullets flying overhead; pressed back to back with grizzled starving men who would have laid their lives for mine. i learned it from a ribbon tied around my finger. i learned it from a kick inside my belly. i learned it from death, and hardship, and brief acts of kindness. i learned love from sacrifice. i learned love from living. and no matter where i’ve gone or what i’ve done—all the dark things i do not regret, but will never speak of—that is the one part of me that i khave always kept safe. imus was a such a fool. tolstoy will live forever. some people do. but that’s not enough. it’s not the length of a life that matters… just the depth of it. the chances we take. the paths we choose. how after we go on affer our hearts break. hearts always break. and so we bend with our hearts. and we sway. but in the end… what matters is that we loved… and lived.

(Source: koriandr, via the-goblinqueen)