She goes quiet for a little while. Remembers something. ‘“I speak the truth not so much as I would, but as much as I dare, and I dare a little more as I grow older.”’ ‘Is that . . .?’ ‘Montaigne himself.”—Matt Haig, How to Stop Time. Highlighted
The lesson of history is that ignorance and superstition are things that can rise up, inside almost anyone, at any moment. And what starts as a doubt in a mind can swiftly become an act in the world.—Matt Haig, How to Stop Time. Highlighted
Maybe someday soon we can try another park bench. I don’t know. I can’t know.—Matt Haig, How to Stop Time. Highlighted
Whenever I see someone reading a book, especially if it is someone I don’t expect, I feel civilization has become a little safer.—Matt Haig, How to Stop Time. Highlighted
There comes a time when the only way to start living is to tell the truth. To be who you really are, even if it is dangerous.—Matt Haig, How to Stop Time. Highlighted
You are psychologically incapable of being able to predict what will make you happy. Your brain can only perceive what it's known, so when you choose what you want for the future, you're actually just recreating a solution or ideal of the past.—Brianna Wiest, 101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think. Highlighted
The synopses we spend so much time writing are for characters we no longer are. … You cannot always make sense of your coexisting truths.—Brianna Wiest, 101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think. Highlighted
You’re not going to be ready for the love of your life when they show up. … And if you deny yourself that relationship because you think you need to do more work beforehand, you’re denying yourself the best growing tool there is.—Brianna Wiest, 101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think. Highlighted
When you see somebody else displaying one of these traits, it’s infuriating, not because you inherently dislike it, but because you have to fight your desire to fully integrate it into your whole consciousness. … The things you hate about others are the things you cannot see in yourself.—Brianna Wiest, 101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think. Highlighted
We can’t choose whose wreckage can [change the parts of ourselves and our worlds we can’t]. We all start as strangers, but we forget that we rarely choose who ends up a stranger, too.—Brianna Wiest, 101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think. Highlighted
The root of the work of being human is learning how to think.—Brianna Wiest, 101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think. Highlighted
“Expectations is the place you must always go to before you get to where you’re going.—Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth. Highlighted
“We’re always looking for that missing piece in ourselves,” said Jungian analyst Jacqueline Wright. “That ideal lover or person that we’re looking for holds a quality that we don’t recognize or express in ourselves.”—Lisa A. Phillips, Unrequited. Highlighted
“You must never feel badly about making mistakes,” explained Reason quietly, “as long as you take the trouble to learn from them. For you often learn more by being wrong for the right reasons than you do by being right for the wrong reasons.”—Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth. Highlighted
Goals don’t improve your future. Goals only improve your present actions. A good goal makes you take action immediately. A bad goal doesn’t. A goal shows what’s right and wrong. What moves you towards your goal is right. What doesn’t is wrong.—Derek Sivers, How to Live. Highlighted
When you’re really learning, you’ll feel stupid and vulnerable — like a hermit crab between shells.—Derek Sivers, How to Live. Highlighted
You use your past to make your future.—Derek Sivers, How to Live. Highlighted
Changing the world includes changing yourself. Change your beliefs, preferences, acquaintances, hobbies, location, and lifestyle.—Derek Sivers, How to Live. Highlighted
Don’t try to be more right. Just be less wrong.—Derek Sivers, How to Live. Highlighted