Beartown (Beartown, #1)

by Fredrik Backman

Bitterness can be corrosive; it can rewrite your memories as if it were scrubbing a crime scene clean, until in the end you only remember what suits you of its causes.

Sometimes I honestly don’t know if there is any more powerful force in the human brain than bitterness. There’s almost nothing I fear more than surrendering to that. Because it consumes you in a way that is 100% destructive. It’s like rust on metal. I think I wrote this passage with a good friend in mind, who always says, “Leave a bad situation or a bad relationship angry, that’s fine, but never stay until you’re bitter.” Anger can fuel good things, I think. Bitterness can only fuel bad.