Kara Ayers > Kara's Quotes

“There are so many fragile things, after all. People break so easily, and so do dreams and hearts.”
― Neil Gaiman, Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders

“But it is not bravery; I have no choice. I wake up and live my life. Don't you do the same?”
― Anthony Doerr, All the Light We Cannot See

“You know the greatest lesson of history? It’s that history is whatever the victors say it is. That’s the lesson. Whoever wins, that’s who decides the history. We act in our own self-interest. Of course we do. Name me a person or a nation who does not. The trick is figuring out where your interests are.”
― Anthony Doerr, All the Light We Cannot See

“I don’t know that I’ve ever been properly happy. I simply careen between moments of intense buoyancy and moments of intense misery. Only my anxiety is constant: When I hope, I’m anxious that my hopes will come to nothing; when I fear, I’m anxious that my fears will all come true.”
― Sherry Thomas, The Art of Theft

“We elicit from the world what we project into the world; but what you project is based upon what happened to you as a child.”
― Bruce D. Perry, What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing

“The pillars of traditional healing were 1) connection to clan and the natural world; 2) regulating rhythm through dance, drumming, and song; 3) a set of beliefs, values, and stories that brought meaning to even senseless, random trauma; and 4) on occasion, natural hallucinogens or other plant-derived substances used to facilitate healing with the guidance of a healer or elder. It is not surprising that today’s best practices in trauma treatment are basically versions of these four things”
― Oprah Winfrey, What Happened To You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing

“Marginalized peoples—excluded, minimized, shamed—are traumatized peoples, because as we’ve discussed, humans are fundamentally relational creatures. To be excluded or dehumanized in an organization, community, or society you are part of results in prolonged, uncontrollable stress that is sensitizing (see Figure 3). Marginalization is a fundamental trauma. This is why I believe that a truly trauma-informed system is an anti-racist system. The destructive effects of racial marginalizing are pervasive and severe.”
― Oprah Winfrey, What Happened To You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing

“Anxiety’s arousal, triggered by the stress response, will alert you to something that’s bothering you—a sudden change at home or work, for instance. You pay attention and think through what’s at stake: What does this change mean for you? For your loved ones? Can you control the situation? By organizing your thoughts around what you can control, you draw upon serotonin, dopamine, and cortisol to keep you focused on next steps. This action keeps you emotionally regulated and goal-driven.”
― Wendy Suzuki, Good Anxiety: Harnessing the Power of the Most Misunderstood Emotion

“When we understand how these underlying pathways trigger, reinforce, or redirect anxiety’s arousal, then we can combat bad anxiety and make conscious decisions that enable us to steer our own path. When we learn to cue in to our own feelings, thoughts, and behaviors, not only can we shift from bad to good anxiety but we can shift our energy, attitude, mindset, and intentions.”
― Wendy Suzuki, Good Anxiety: Harnessing the Power of the Most Misunderstood Emotion

“By reframing the way you think about anxiety, you can take what was once a major drag and turn it into something useful and even beneficial in your life. And as you achieve this flip, you will naturally open the door to the extraordinary benefits that anxiety is designed to bring into your life. When functioning properly, anxiety can essentially grant you six superpowers: the ability to strengthen your overall physical and emotional resilience; perform tasks and activities at a higher level; optimize your mindset; increase your focus and productivity; enhance your social intelligence; and improve your creative skills. Getting a handle on your anxiety and shifting it to good opens the door to discovering how anxiety can become a superpower.”
― Wendy Suzuki, Good Anxiety: Harnessing the Power of the Most Misunderstood Emotion

“Anxiety really does work like a form of energy. Think of it as a chemical reaction to an event or situation: Without trustworthy resources, training, and timing, that chemical reaction can get out of hand—but it can also be controlled and used for valuable good.”
― Wendy Suzuki, Good Anxiety: Harnessing the Power of the Most Misunderstood Emotion

“Rochelle went silent again. It was interesting, I thought. I resolved to be more like this, myself: not to speak until I was ready. Obviously, people waited for you.”
― Jean Hanff Korelitz, The Latecomer

“Our bodies belonged to us. Poor, disabled, it didn’t matter. These were our bodies, and we had the right to decide what to do with them.”
― Dolen Perkins-Valdez, Take My Hand

“Although I refused to believe there was such a thing as an unwanted child, there was such a thing as an unwanted pregnancy—and I could speak to that firsthand.”
― Dolen Perkins-Valdez, Take My Hand

“And what is love, in the end?" Alabaster said. "Except the irrational desire to put evolutionary competitiveness aside in order to ease someone else's journey through life?”
― Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

“We are all living, at most, half of a life, she thought. There was the life you lived, which consisted of the choices you made. And then, there was the other life, the one that was the things you hadn't chosen.”
― Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

“Sam's doctor said to him, "The good news is that the pain is in your head."
But I am in my head, Sam thought.”
― Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

“If you're always aiming for perfection, you won't make anything at all.”
― Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

“A glimmer of a notion of a nothing of a whisper of a figment of an idea.”
― Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

“It’s tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. It’s the possibility of infinite rebirth, infinite redemption.”
― Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

“How I will miss the horses.”
― Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

“What I think you should consider...is the rarity of finding a playmate.”
― Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

“The most important thing is finding someone you wish to play with.”
― Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

“Being gay or straight,” says Elizabeth, “is about who you want to go to
bed with. Being trans—or cis—is about who you want to go to bed as.”
― Jodi Picoult, Mad Honey

“Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards. Søren Kierkegaard”
― Jodi Picoult, Mad Honey

“And if I told it right, she would learn everything that I know about love and desire and the colors, about this world and the hidden world, about the man with the red-and-gold voice who was almost the ruin of me. And she would know how I survived.”
― Laurie Lico Albanese, Hester

“If forever doesn’t exist,” she said, “we’ll invent it ourselves.”
― Nikki Erlick, The Measure

“The measure of your life lies within.”
― Nikki Erlick, The Measure

“Why can humans not use their millions of words to simply tell one another what they desire?”
― Shelby Van Pelt, Remarkably Bright Creatures

“Humans. For the most part, you are dull and blundering. But occasionally, you can be remarkably bright creatures.”
― Shelby Van Pelt, Remarkably Bright Creatures