Madness

“Madness and chaos are self-destructing 

but overthinking is the suicide.”

~ Robert M. Drake

Truth

“Truth builds trust.”

~ Marilyn Suttle

You Know Why

“You know why people pair up into couples? 

Because being a human is fucking terrifying. 

But it's a hell of a lot easier if you're not doing it by yourself.”

~ Alice Oseman, Loveless

You Get Lonely Is What It Is

“You get lonely, is what it is. 

A person's not supposed to go through life with absolutely nobody. 

It's not normal. 

The longer you go by yourself the weirder you get, 

and the weirder you get the longer you go by yourself. 

It's a loop and you gotta do something to get out of it.”

~ Jim Shepard

There Are So Many Movies Like This

“There are so many movies like this, 

where you thought you were smarter than the screen 

but the director was smarter than you, 

of course he's the one, 

of course it was a dream, 

of course she's dead, 

of course, it's hidden right there, 

of course it's the truth and you in your seat 

have failed to notice in the dark.”

~ Daniel Handler, Why We Broke Up

You'll Blow Up A Helicopter

“You'll blow up a helicopter, but you won't go out with me?

 What is wrong with you?”

~ Meg Cabot, When Lightning Strikes

There Are So Many Movies

“There are so many movies like this, 

where you thought you were smarter than the screen 

but the director was smarter than you, 

of course he's the one, of course it was a dream, 

of course she's dead, of course, it's hidden right there, 

of course it's the truth and you in your seat 

have failed to notice in the dark.”

~ Daniel Handler, Why We Broke Up 

Love Him

“Love him,’ said Jacques, with vehemence,

 ‘love him and let him love you. 

Do you think anything else 

under heaven really matters? 

And how long, at the best, can it last, 

since you are both men 

and still have everywhere to go? 

Only five minutes, I assure you, only five minutes, 

and most of that, helas! in the dark. 

And if you think of them as dirty, 

then they will be dirty— 

they will be dirty because you will be giving nothing,

 you will be despising your flesh and his. 

But you can make your time together anything but dirty, 

you can give each other something which will make both of you better—

forever—if you will not be ashamed, if you will only not play it safe.’ 

He paused, watching me, and then looked down to his cognac. 

‘You play it safe long enough,’ he said, in a different tone, 

‘and you’ll end up trapped in your own dirty body, 

forever and forever and forever—

like me.”

~ James Baldwin, Giovanni's Room

I'm Done

“I'm done.

 I don't need anything more out of life.

 I have you, and that's enough.”

~ Alessandra Torre

Was It Necessary

“Was it necessary to tell me that you wanted nothing in the world but me?'

The corners of his mouth drooped peevishly.

Oh, my dear, it's rather hard to take quite literally the things a man says 

when he's in love with you.'

Didn't you mean them?'

At the moment.”

~ W. Somerset Maugham, The Painted Veil

I Used To Think

“I used to think -- and given the way we ended up,

maybe I still do -- that all relationships 

need the kind of violent shove that a crush brings,

just to get you started and to push you over the humps.

And then, when the energy from that shove has gone

and you come to something approaching a halt,

you have to look around and see what you've got.

It could be something completely different,

it could be something roughly the same,

but gentler and calmer,

or it could be nothing at all.”

~ Nick Hornby, High Fidelity

Every Incident

“Every incident chips away at your limit. 

Every time you choose to stay,

 it makes the next time that much harder to leave.

 Eventually, you lose sight of your limit altogether, 

because you start to think, ‘I’ve lasted five years now. 

What’s five more?”

~ Colleen Hoover, It Ends with Us

I Used To Think

“I used to think--and given the way we ended up, maybe I still do -- 

that all relationships need the kind of violent shove that a crush brings, 

just to get you started and to push you over the humps. 

And then, when the energy from that shove has gone

 and you come to something approaching a halt, 

you have to look around and see what you've got. 

It could be something completely different, 

it could be something roughly the same, 

but gentler and calmer, or it could be nothing at all.”

~ Nick Hornby, High Fidelity

An Honorable Human Relationship

“An honorable human relationship – 

that is, one in which two people have the right to use the word "love" – 

is a process, delicate, violent, often terrifying to both persons involved, 

a process of refining the truths they can tell each other.

It is important to do this because it breaks down human self-delusion and isolation.

It is important to do this because in doing so we do justice to our own complexity.

It is important to do this because we can count on so few people to go that hard way with us.”

~ Adrienne Rich, On Lies, Secrets, and Silence. Selected Prose 1966-1978

This Emotion

“This emotion I'm feeling now, this is love, right?"

"I don't know. Is it a longing? Is it a giddy stupid happiness just because you're with me?"

"Yes," she said.

"That's influenza," said Miro. "Watch for nausea or diarrhea within a few hours.”

~ Orson Scott Card, Children of the Mind