Ruby Manougian

“God was a maze without a map, a circle without a centre; the pieces of a jigsaw that never seemed to fit together. If only she could solve this mystery, she could bring meaning to senselessness, reason to madness, order to chaos, and perhaps, too, she could learn to be happy.”
― Elif Shafak, Havva'nın Üç Kızı

“Playing the victim role: Manipulator portrays him- or herself as a victim of circumstance or of someone else's behavior in order to gain pity, sympathy or evoke compassion and thereby get something from another. Caring and conscientious people cannot stand to see anyone suffering and the manipulator often finds it easy to play on sympathy to get cooperation.”
― George K. Simon Jr., In Sheep's Clothing: Understanding and Dealing With Manipulative People

“(The French psychoanalyst Lacan suggested that the Christian injunction ‘love thy neighbour as thyself’ must be ironic because people hate themselves.)”
― Adam Phillips, On Kindness

“فعندما نغرم ببعضنا بعضا، نحول الشخص الآخر إلى إله، يا لخطورة هذا الأمر. وحين لا يبادلنا الحب، نرد عليه بالغضب والامتغاص والكراهية...
- ثمة شيء في الحب يشبه الإيمان. نوع من الثقة العمياء. أليس كذلك؟ الشعور بالنشوة وطعم السعادة، سحر الارتباط بمخلوق خارج نفوسنا المحدودة والمألوفة. لكن إذا جرفنا الحب - أو الإيمان - فإنه يتحول إلى عقيدة، إالى تعلق، وتتحول العذوبة الى حموضة، ونعاني بين أيدي الآلهة التي خلقناها بأنفسنا.”
― Elif Shafak, Three Daughters of Eve