Jack London

For what reason under the sun do men and women come together if not for the exchange of the best that is in them? And the best that is in them is what they are interested in, the thing by which they make their living, the thing they’ve specialized on and sat up days and nights over, and even dreamed about.

lodged only in his mind

amused glance that the other stole privily at him

not of the eart

in the upper walks of life.

"Ruth." It was a talisman, a magic word to conjure with. Each time he murmured it, her face shimmered before him, suffusing the foul wall with a golden radiance. This radiance did not stop at the wall. It extended on into infinity, and through its golden depths his soul went questing after hers. The best that was in him was out in splendid flood. The very thought of her ennobled and purified him, made him better, and made him want to be better.

half­breed be­gan his rise in Buck’s es­ti­ma­tion.

the thing which pro­jected their strug­gle for supremacy far into the fu­ture, past many a weary mile of trail and toil.

“Ah, my frien’s,” he said softly, “mebbe it mek you mad dog, dose many bites. Mebbe all mad dog, sa­credam! Wot you t’ink, eh, Per­rault?

There is an ec­stasy that marks the sum­mit of life, and be­yond which life can­not rise. And such is the para­dox of liv­ing, this ec­stasy comes when one is most alive, and it comes as a com­plete for­get­ful­ness that one is alive.