Bea

“Every word means more when there are fewer of them. Brevity is the soul of wit, or whatever. If I were able to pick just the right words for this, it would be brief. I have to add more words to make the words I've already written mean less.”
― Emily R. Austin, We Could Be Rats

“If God doesn't exist, I wonder if reincarnation does. If it does, I wonder if we are reborn again and again forever, or if we are reborn a certain number of times, and then expire. If that's the case, I think I'm on my last life. I have this deep sense that I am extremely old. Sometimes, I feel like I can remember being someone I'm not. Places I've never been before feel familiar. Foods I've never eaten taste like something I’ve tasted before.”
― Emily R. Austin, We Could Be Rats

“Friends, distinct from parents, do not expect us to live out their hopes at once for us. With friends, distinct from spouses, we're not shackled with the insurmountable expectation of being someone’s everything, their puzzle piece to completeness. And distinct from our children, we aren't the sole propagator of our friends’ survival. Our ancestors lived in tribes, where responsibility for one another was diffused among many. Friendship, then, is a rediscovery of an ancient truth we've long buried: it takes an entire community for us to feel whole.”
― Marisa G. Franco, Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make—and Keep—Friends

“Sometimes, I thought it was better to lie to spare people having to endure my attempt to explain myself. Maybe that's a cop-out. Maybe I told myself that because it served me to think that way.”
― Emily R. Austin, We Could Be Rats