Miru Reads Thriller

“Is it true that human beings are fundamentally cruel? Is the experience of cruelty the only thing we share as a species? Is the dignity that we cling to nothing but self-delusion, masking from ourselves the single truth: that each one of us is capable of being reduced to an insect, a ravening beast, a lump of meat? To be degraded, slaughtered - is this the essential of humankind, one which history has confirmed as inevitable?”
― Han Kang, Human Acts

“I'm not the first one to point out that George Lucas used plastic helmets to cover the faces of the storm troopers in Star Wars, in order to make them more inhuman, as their eyes and faces were not visible. In our times, we are getting a more modern version of Lucas's Stormtroopers, thanks to the popular nerve toxin Botox. This is something more and more people who are past their middle age are happily injecting into themselves - more specifically, into their faces. Botox causes local paralysis (it is a nerve toxin, after all), which smoothes out wrinkles. Unfortunately, it also means you can no longer use some of your facial muscles, as you are paralyzed. This means you're not only getting the skin of a Barbie doll, you're getting its range of facial expressions too.”
― Henrik Fexeus, The Art of Reading Minds

“Try to avoid using the word “not” for a whole day—and see how often you use it for convenience. It’s a lot easier to tell somebody what you don’t want than to explain what you do want. But if you make yourself do it, you’ll find you will become a lot more expressive and positive every time you do not use “not.”
― Henrik Fexeus, The Art of Reading Minds: How to Understand and Influence Others Without Them Noticing

“Strong emotions can distort your perceptions of the world. Negative emotions block off potentially positive experiences, and promote forgotten, negative thoughts. Don’t do anything you might regret later on if you’re stuck in a strong emotion. Try to wait until the emotion has passed before you act, even if it’s difficult to do so.”
― Henrik Fexeus, The Art of Reading Minds: How to Understand and Influence Others Without Them Noticing