#lie

At the top of the slope on the perimeter of the site, overlooking six lanes of motorway, is a diner frequented by lorry drivers who have either just unloaded or or are waiting to pick up their cargo. Anyone nursing a disappointment with domestic life would find relief in this tiled, brightly lit cafeteria with its smells of fries and petrol, for it has the reassuring feel of a place where everyone is just passing through--and which therefore has none of the close-knit or convivial atmosphere which could cast a humiliating light on one's own alienation. It suggests itself as an ideal location for Christmas lunch for those let down by their families. ↗

— Alain de Botton

#anonymity #cafeteria #diner #disappointment #motorways

I need to dream. I need to believe. I need to know that I have some control in my life. That if I work hard, that I will be rewarded. That life is not arbitrary. I need to believe that bad things happen to good people, for a greater reason. That dedication, sacrifice, hard work, discipline are all worthy attributes that will eventually produce extraordinary results. That if I live a certain lifestyle, that my family will be better for that. That there is a direct link between my actions and my results. That If I prepare properly that I can face the insurmountable foe and look him in the eye and say “Bring it on, I can take whatever you can dish out.” I need to keep living in order to save my daughter from dying. ↗

— John Passaro

#dream #hard-work #sacrifice #dreams

What someone’s lies reveal about them (aspirations to being an accomplished writer, fantasies of an exotic history and a cosmopolitan family) are always sadder than the fact of the lies themselves. These inventions illuminate the negative spaces of someone’s self-image, their vanity and insecurities and most childish wishes, as we can infer from warped starlight the presence of a far vaster mass of dark matter. ↗

— Tim Kreider

#personality #secrets #family

To have my life accepted as just another ordinary life, to have it viewed as common and regular, was a singular moment. ↗

— Katherine A. Briccetti

#families #lesbian-partners #sperm-donors #family

A family is a little world within doors; the miniature resemblance of the great worls without ↗

— Henry James

#family

As Romeo and Juliet found to their cost, marriage is never just about two people falling in love, it is about families. ↗

— Marina Lewycka

#love #marriage #family

From character Henry Lee in the Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, " He'd learned long ago: perfection isn't what families are all about". Love it! ↗

— Jamie Ford

#family

The most important thing had always been what other people thought-appearances before herself or her family. And righteous about it. Time and again Matt had insisted that what others thought about you wasn't the only thing in life. But it did no good. Norma had to dress well; the house had to have fine furniture; Charlie had to be kept inside so that other people wouldn't know anything was wrong. ↗

— Daniel Keyes

#charlie #flowers-for-algernon #family

Shahid was the free spirit of the Kamal family: a dreamer, an idealist, a wanderer on the face of the earth--or, as Ahmed would put it, a lazy fuckwit. ↗

— John Lanchester

#families #free-spirits #idealists #laziness #wanderers

Oh, my father, such a difficult man. His world turned on his axis. From "The Father Tamer" in BREATHE IN ↗

— Eileen Granfors

#discipline #families #father #love #secrets