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“We don't have to stop living because we might die.”
― Zoulfa Katouh, As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow

“The power of analog cruising is its timelessness. There was no way to replicate this online. The dopamine of swiping and the Pavlovian bells of our phones had been replaced by anticipation and pheromones. Here was only the unforgiving, thrilling present. We couldn't take photos, but we could be visions. So many died creating, protecting and enjoying these kinds of spaces, through wars and plagues and financial ruin. Prince Charming may not always show, but when we cruise face to face, we honor heaven.”
― Leo Herrera, (analog) Cruising: a manual

“The secret of the Great Stories is that they have no secrets. The Great Stories are the ones you have heard and want to hear again. The ones you can enter anywhere and inhabit comfortably. They don’t deceive you with thrills and trick endings. They don’t surprise you with the unforeseen. They are as familiar as the house you live in. Or the smell of your lover’s skin. You know how they end, yet you listen as though you don’t. In the way that although you know that one day you will die, you live as though you won’t. In the Great Stories you know who lives, who dies, who finds love, who doesn’t. And yet you want to know again.

That is their mystery and their magic.”
― Arundathi Roy, The God of Small Things

“Don’t judge your feelings; notice them. Use them as your map. Don’t be afraid of the truth.”
― Lori Gottlieb, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed