How Should a Person Be?: A Novel from Life

by Sheila Heti

We tried not to smile, for smiling only encourages men to bore you and waste your time.

Thomas Jefferson said, “You always get the rulers you deserve.”

Then I heard my friend say calmly, “I don’t care about success. I have it in my heart now.”

I felt something drop inside of me, like gravity had shifted, like when you suddenly realize the person you have been staring at is missing a limb.