Lessons in Chemistry

by Bonnie Garmus

while musical prodigies are always celebrated, early readers aren’t. And that’s because early readers are only good at something others will eventually be good at, too. So being first isn’t special—it’s just annoying.

while we may be born into families, it doesn’t necessarily mean we belong to them.”

No surprise. Idiots make it into every company. They tend to interview well.

Having a baby, Elizabeth realized, was a little like living with a visitor from a distant planet. There was a certain amount of give and take as the visitor learned your ways and you learned theirs, but gradually their ways faded and your ways stuck. Which she found regrettable.

The problem with being a minister was how many times a day he had to lie. This was because people needed constant reassurance that things were okay or were going to be okay instead of the more obvious reality that things were bad and were only going to get worse.

“But you realize,” she said carefully, as if not to embarrass him further, “that faith isn’t based on religion. Right?”

Courage is the root of change—and change is what we’re chemically designed to do.