"As even this trifle suggests, pitch darkness has always occupied our fantasies, while in the West even ghosts are as clear as glass"

• In Praise of Shadows by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki

"I also wished, just like those animals, that I could hide in the shade. But looking all around me, it wasn't just the animals that could hide in the shade, but you, my brother, even Sima Guang. You could all find dark corners with shade. But I couldn't. I had no water tanks and no hiding places, but only sunlight...24 hours, uninterrupted, radiant and warm, shining on all things."

• A Sun (2019) dir. by Chung Mong Hong

"Sometimes I thought Iceland was a perfect place to convalesce, because it was as serene as the seaside cures victorian doctors once prescribed"

• The Faraway Nearby by Rebecca Solnit

"To me, a wicked man who is also eloquent seems the most guilty of them all. He'll cut your throat as bold as brass, because he knows he can dress up murder in handsome words."

• Medea and Other Plays by Euripides

"To become part of the ancient forest after death - isn't that a wonderful idea?"

• The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben