The Palace of Illusions

by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

“A problem becomes a problem only if you believe it to be so. And often others see you as you see yourself.”

Time is the great eraser, both of sorrow and of joy.

Expectations are like hidden rocks in your path—all they do is trip you up.

This is the nature of sorrow: often it fades with time, but once in a while it remains lodged below the surface of things, a stubborn thorn beneath a fingernail, making itself felt every time you brush against it.

There was an unexpected freedom in finding out that one wasn’t as important as one had always assumed!