I thought I was in Hell. Then I found out what Hell really was.
Strong enough that I was no longer afraid to be gentle. Powerful enough that I could be vulnerable. Scarred enough that I could understand and tread lightly around the deepest scars of others.
Appearances to the mind are of four kinds. Things either are what they appear to be; or they neither are, nor appear to be; or they are, and do not appear to be; or they are not, and yet appear to be. Rightly to aim in all these cases is the wise man’s task. – Epictetus.
R-E-G-R-E-T. I can spell that word now. Raw. Endless. Grief. Raining. Eternal. Tears. That’s what regret is.
That which we fear, we somehow beckon near and engage in a dance, as toxically intimate as a pair of suspicious lovers... we’re magnetized waltzers and our hopes and fears emit some kind of electrical impulses that attract all that we dream, and all that we dread. We live and die on a dance floor of our own making.
There were the cages you could see and those that weren’t so easy to spot before you were lured into them with sweet promises and lies until you were stuck like a fly on sticky tape with only your shattered innocence for company.
What’s the surest way to be victimized? Believe yourself a victim. To win? Believe yourself a champion.
He believes the world populated by obvious monsters. The most dangerous of us are the least obvious. He relies on his skill as a lie detector, reading and judging the conflicting emotions of others.
Surrounded by alpha males that know more magic than all the teachers at Hogwarts, I’m about to ask who’s going to do what to get us through the gate, when it becomes a moot point.
Kiss me as if you remember me. Inspire this wild god as once you did. Incite poetry and fire with your passion and perhaps I’ll find a way.
Love, once given, is forever. It canna simply go away.
Only humans kill with hate. When you kill, you must kill like an animal.
The whole time, I waited for Barrons to come and rescue me, the product, I suppose, of growing up in a world where nearly all the fairy tales I’d heard as a child had a prince rushing to the rescue of the princess. Men down south love to play up to that image. It’s a strange new world out there and the rules have changed: It’s every princess for herself.
Don’t confuse intensity of emotion with quality of emotion.
She knew what she wanted: the best. He knew what he was: the best. They enhanced each other’s finest qualities, as true love will.
Best way to stay out from under a microscope is to keep turning it around on the person trying to view you through it.
If you believe nothing else I tell you, my queen, believe my pain. Consider the cause.
Is there worse than insane?
That’s why I remember every single thing I’ve done, stare at myself in a mirror and meet those eyes that have screwed up, fully aware of my failings, because the day I let myself forget them is the day I could start doing them all over again.
Life’s an ocean, full of waves. All are dangerous. All can drown you. Under the right circumstances, even the gentlest swell can turn tidal. Hopping waves is for the weekend warrior. Choose one, ride it out. It increases your odds of survival.