The Orphanage by the Lake

by Daniel G. Miller

The easiest way to spook somebody about to give you information is to show them how badly you need it.

Most of the time, you don’t find a lead. The lead emerges only after you’ve eliminated the alternatives.

People think that we’re defined by the big moments in our lives: births, deaths, successes, and failures. But I think the little moments matter more because those are the moments that shape your self-perception and who you want to become.

I saw everything I am and everything I’m not in one moment.

“You can hope for the good times, but it’s the bad times that make you.”

I envy wealthy people like Andrew. Life comes so effortlessly to them, they spend about ninety percent of their time enjoying it while the rest of us grind away.

I do my best to ignore it. I think back to how my therapist told me that’s the worst thing you can do with trauma, but I don’t have time for trauma right now.

the imperfection that makes perfection.

these aren’t the controlled tears of sadness; they’re the unvarnished tears of heartbreak.

It’s what we can’t see that scares us.

Fear is like a cancer—it starts with an actual moment but then multiplies and gains hold of you until it’s bending your experience of everything around you.

a relationship built on a lie is destined to crumble,

Losing a parent would be devastating, but losing one to suicide must be unbearable.

There’s a great quote I read once that says ‘To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.’

Andrew gives you such full attention that you don’t need anyone else’s validation. It’s like having a permanent spotlight shining on you. With him, I’m the most important person in the world.

I’d rather have ’em inside the tent, pissin’ out, than outside the tent, pissin’ in.

I know what it’s like to be in her shoes: to be victimized yet made to feel you deserved it.