The Weight of Tender Things Quotes

“I don't know how I ended up in a world this miserable.
All this suffering just to die one day.”
― Sadia Hakim, The Weight of Tender Things

“People, people, people — an ocean of people, but I can't find even a drop of humanity.”
― Sadia Hakim, The Weight of Tender Things

“I am sick. I am nauseous. The problem is I am starting to understand life.”
― Sadia Hakim, The Weight of Tender Things

“Most days don't
announce their meaning.
They just leave
a feeling behind,
like wet footprints
on a terrace floor.
And you realize that
it was never
the big things,
never the victories,
but these
uncaptioned,
unrehearsed,
almost invisible
mercies
that keep
you
anchored to
the living.
The moments
that root you back
into this
fragile, brutal,
beautiful mess.
The experiences
that make you
belong,
without
ever asking
for permission.”
― Sadia Hakim, The Weight of Tender Things

“I love trees, the sound of leaves dancing in the rain, the chirping of birds, empty roads, the blowing of the wind in spring, children dancing and splashing in the rain, the autumnal vibes, and people walking alone on footpaths, deep in their thoughts.”
― Sadia Hakim, The Weight of Tender Things

“I have seen hell at eye level. That's why I look at the stars, in the hope of finding heaven above my head. Having lived through darkness, I now understand the light.”
― Sadia Hakim, The Weight of Tender Things

“All my life I have been a rower of two boats. I have been here physically and somewhere else mentally. My existence is split, my soul is cut, my heart is rent asunder.”
― Sadia Hakim, The Weight of Tender Things

“I think
what happens to you
on most days
is not
what it mostly is,
but what happens
to you
randomly and candidly.

An unexpected road trip,
a moment of looking
at street vendors,
the first few drops of rain
hitting the ground
like a whisper,
an unexpected
lunar sighting
in its full moon phase,
a sparkle in the eyes
of children playing in the
apartment compound.

These are the things
that happen to you, not the
clocking in and out,
not the rehearsed hellos,
not the small talks
wrapped in the same old
wrappers of yesterday.

It's the stranger
who nods at you
like they have known your pain,
the dog that follows you
for three streets
and leaves without goodbye,
the last sip of
tea gone cold
while you were lost in thought,
a song on the radio
that you didn't know you
remembered but now
you are humming along like
it once saved your life.

It's the story the sky writes
when no one is looking,
clouds folding secrets
into their shapes,
the wind combing through your hair
like it belongs to
someone who still believes,
the ache that arrives
out of nowhere
and somehow
makes you
feel alive.”
― Sadia Hakim, The Weight of Tender Things

“Everything we were afraid to lose, we lost. Everything we were afraid would happen, happened.”
― Sadia Hakim, The Weight of Tender Things

“If words could water, I wonder what mine would do — blossom flowers or burn gardens?”
― Sadia Hakim, The Weight of Tender Things

“Of people, of places, surfaces don't interest me. Depths do.”
― Sadia Hakim, The Weight of Tender Things

“What kind of monsters people are!
They eat your heart and swallow your
soul. And what kind of monster am I?
I eat my own heart and swallow my
own soul.”
― Sadia Hakim, The Weight of Tender Things

“I mishandled my heart long before people did. I betrayed my trust way before people dared.”
― Sadia Hakim, The Weight of Tender Things

“I have been an abuser of my own heart, a traitor of my own soul.”
― Sadia Hakim, The Weight of Tender Things

“I have done some truly horrible and disgustingly
awful things in my life. I have been an abuser of
my own heart, a traitor of my own soul.”
― Sadia Hakim, The Weight of Tender Things

“And for the first time in a long while,
I'm feeling relaxed, untouched by the
usual shadow of sadness.”
― Sadia Hakim, The Weight of Tender Things

“Being born with a heart this sensitive is my awful tragedy; having a brain this contemplative, my biggest disaster.”
― Sadia Hakim, The Weight of Tender Things

“Do I even have a dream life?
I just want to
live in the countryside,
nap under the shade of trees,
watch birds fly,
see stars shine,
experiment with food and plants,
drink healthy tea,
read good books,
and watch anime.”
― Sadia Hakim, The Weight of Tender Things

“This world is but a burden on my shoulders, a nuisance to my heart.”
― Sadia Hakim, The Weight of Tender Things

“If you have to sacrifice your voice to keep the peace, it's not your peace that you're sacrificing for.”
― Sadia Hakim, The Weight of Tender Things

“My darling, you assume
a heart ensures humanity,
yet forget how often
does it beat in vain!”
― Sadia Hakim, The Weight of Tender Things

“The most non-human and disgusting thing about humans is having a heart that doesn't feel, see, hear, or understand. And neither does it try.”
― Sadia Hakim, The Weight of Tender Things

“The heaviest of all is
the weight of tender things.”
― Sadia Hakim, The Weight of Tender Things

“Words hold worlds just like our
hearts, just like our souls.”
― Sadia Hakim, The Weight of Tender Things

“Everything we were afraid
would happen, happened.”
― Sadia Hakim, The Weight of Tender Things

“I have always seen
myself as a tragic
happening that has
ever happened to a
body.”
― Sadia Hakim, The Weight of Tender Things

“Whenever I see life,
or anything that resembles life,
my instinct is to flee,
to run away as far as possible.”
― Sadia Hakim, The Weight of Tender Things

“Life is a cruel, cruel thing.
I have been its victim for years.”
― Sadia Hakim, The Weight of Tender Things

“Life sucks the marrow out of your bones, and it laughs at the ashes of your existence.”
― Sadia Hakim, The Weight of Tender Things

“I have been suffocating on something for years, mother. Maybe it's the stinking smell of dying humanity.”
― Sadia Hakim, The Weight of Tender Things