My soul is a hidden orchestra; I know not what instruments, what fiddlestrings and harps, drums and tamboura I sound and clash inside myself. All I hear is the symphony.” – Fernando Pessoa, The Book of Disquiet.
I love you so much, and I miss you. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you, Cletus Winston.” “I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you, Jennifer Sylvester.
Make choices that allow you to sleep at night.
I guess, what’s wrong with the world never changes. Selfishness, greed, brutality. There will always be stupid, brutal people. There will always be intelligent, brutal people too. And that’s depressing.
A thing has no value except through use and the accumulation of memories from its use,” she’d said. “What good would it do to leave such a thing in the china cabinet collecting dust? What value would it have? I remember my grandmother and my mother every time I use this teapot, and I use it with my children, so they’ll remember me.
I didn’t want one of her moments, I wanted all of them. I wanted an invasion, not a visit.
Which, if you ask me, just means it’s not where you belong. If you can be replaced so easily in a person’s life, then you probably don’t need to be a part of that person’s life.
Why can’t a woman’s words count for more than a man’s violence?
I supposed Raquel was an idea. A memory I’d made too much out of, remembered too often, relived until the edges had grown worn and soft and frayed. Who’s to say that night ever really happened? Maybe it didn’t. Maybe it had been a figment of my imagination.
I want to ask if you’re okay, but I don’t want to keep asking if you’re okay. So I’m gonna limit myself to asking once every six hours.
Women are not seen as equals, young women in particular. And if you’re at all attractive, it’s an impediment. I’ve been called a distraction. Do you know what that’s like? I’ve been called emotional when I raised my voice to match that of my male colleagues, I’ve been called bitchy and conceited and judgmental for recognizing my own intelligence, and not just by men.
I wondered if, fundamentally, the world was made up of people who either sought justice at the expense of redemption, or those who sought redemption at the expense of justice.
Don’t you find conformism and adhering to arbitrary societal norms suffocating?
You have to admit, hot guys have hot guy problems, which are like first world problems on steroids.
I’d tried dating. In fact, I’d even tried marriage. Everything about it was a horrific disaster, on so many levels.
Be suspicious of folks who tell you what you want to hear.
People say comparison is the thief of joy when it comes to success, right? But it’s also the thief of compassion when it comes to suffering.
Some girls who excelled at academics all through elementary school will purposefully start doing poorly around the age of twelve – especially with math, science, engineering, and technology since those have traditionally been considered male-dominated subjects – not wanting to be perceived as smart.
You measure success of a life in the difference made, not in the amount of money or fame earned, and not in terms of the freedom you’re afforded.
I didn’t care about that stupid job. I didn’t care about anything. Nothing mattered. Not even climate change. And humanity was all destined to die from climate change. That’s how upset I was.
You’re appalling.” His eyes twinkled with mischief, but his face and tone remained serious. “It’s pronounced appealing, Darling.