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Kindle Notes & Highlights
The human mind is kind. It will create blank spaces for itself. I think of them as little airbags in my mind, cushioning the tender places where the blows and bruises are.
“We have to love other people regardless of their actions and without any hope of reward. Even our enemies deserve our grace.”
Nothing bad coming to me is going to come from strangers. All my mortal wounds have always been inflicted by the people closest to me.”
It’s always the case that when you tell a secret to half a couple, you’ve told them both.
There are hidden benefits to being a fictional person. If people can’t find you, they can’t break your heart.
If you’re an addict, and you tell the truth about what’s happening to you, people will try to get you to stop, and the disease won’t allow you to stop. So the afflicted person will often become a chronic liar, and the people around him will become liars, to cover up for him and to keep him comfortable or keep him calm or employed, or keep themselves safe from him,
I’m trying to say that escape shouldn’t be the primary goal. The goal is that you accept that suffering is part of life and use your suffering to grow in wisdom and depth.”
After a certain point, people lose patience with your grief. They just want you to move on.
Duchess Goldblatt’s Writing Advice: Use all the letters, not just vowels. Spread them around the page until you get the look you want.
Choices are a luxury. We forget that sometimes, don’t we? Not everybody gets to have choices.
If you’ve ever wondered what the right thing is to say to someone who’s grieving a death, I think this is it: Tell me all about your dear one.
