#den

[A] person whose head is bowed and whose eyes are heavy cannot look at the light. ↗

— Christine de Pizan

#eyes #grief #hope #hopelessness #light

We do not suffer by accident. ↗

— Jane Austen

#suffering #prejudice

Any fool can do something cool and look cool, but it takes skill to make something uncool cool again. ↗

— Criss Jami

#cool #coolness #fool #independence #individuality

It was frankly sort of confusing, the way everyone stared at our bodies exactly as they tried to erase the ideas of our bodies from our minds. We were supposed to get over ourselves but no one was supposed to get over us. The female body was our worst handicap and our best advantage -- the surest means to success, the surest course to failure. (p. 72) ↗

— Hilary Thayer Hamann

#girls #hamann #identity #sexuality #sexuality

Suddenly I register that St. Clair is shorter than Josh. Much shorter. It’s odd I didn’t notice earlier, but he doesn’t carry himself like a short guy. Most are shy or defensive, or some messed-up combination of the two, but St. Clair is confident and friendly and— ↗

— Stephanie Perkins

#self-confidence #short #self-confidence

Criticism is just someone else’s opinion. Even people who are experts in their fields are sometimes wrong. It is up to you to choose whether to believe some of it, none of it, or all of it. What you think is what counts. ↗

— Rodolfo Costa

#fear-of-failure #opinion #self-confidence #self-doubt #self-confidence

But human beings are not machines, and however powerful the pressure to conform, they sometimes are so moved by what they see as injustice that they dare to declare their independence. In that historical possibility lies hope. ↗

— Howard Zinn

#conformity #declaration-of-independence #hope #individuality #non-conformity

Maybe they'd use biological or chemical weapons instead. Maybe they'd crash the world economy. Maybe they'd turn every program on television into one of those reality shows." "That's mostly done already, Harry." "Oh. Well. I've got to believe that the world is worth saving anyway. ↗

— Jim Butcher

#reality-tv #saving-the-world #economy

To be around someone whose self-confidence is more than what our first glance led us to expect is seductive. ↗

— Abraham Verghese

#self-confidence #seduction

Secrets. Funny how, when you're about to be given something precious, something you've wanted for a long time, you suddenly feel nervous over taking it. Everyone wants more than anything to be allowed into someone else's most secret self. Everyone wants to allow someone into their most secret self. Everyone feels so alone inside that their deepest wish is for someone to know their secret being, because then they are alone no longer. Don't we all long for this? Yet when it's offered it's frightening, because you might not live up to the desires of the one who bestows the gift. And frightening because you know that accepting such a gift means you'll want-perhaps be expected- to offer a similar gift in return. Which means giving your *self* away. And what's more frightening than that? ↗

— Aidan Chambers

#giving #secrets #self #sharing-secrets #funny