#simi

Once again she would arrive at a foreign place. Once again be the newcomer, an outsider, the one who did not belong. She knew from experience that she would quickly have to ingratiate herself with her new masters to avoid being rejected or, in more dire cases, punished. Then there would be the phase where she would have to sharpen her senses in order to see and hear as acutely as possible so that she could assimilate quickly all the new customs and the words most frequently used by the group she was to become a part of--so that finally, she would be judged on her own merits. ↗

— Laura Esquivel

#exclusion #immigration #judgement #punishment #slavery

Sometimes it's like I'm living my life waiting for more bad news. ↗

— Evan Kuhlman

#pessimistic #life

Optimism is denial for chumps with no life experience". "What's pessimism?" I said. "Religion without God. ↗

— Jonathan Kellerman

#pessimism #experience

I am somewhat of a meliorist. That is to say, I act as an optimist because I find I cannot act at all, as a pessimist. One often feels helpless in the face of the confusion of these times, such a mass of apparently uncontrollable events and experiences to live through, attempt to understand, and if at all possible, give order to; but one must not withdraw from the task if he has some small things to offer - he does so at the risk of diminishing his humanity. ↗

— Bernard Malamud

#experience #humanity #meliorist #optimist #pessimist

I have made calculations that would beggar your soul. What is it that villains always say at the end of stories? You and I are more alike than you think? Well,” the Marquess took September’s hand in hers and very gently kissed it. “We are. Oh, how alike we are! I feel very warmly towards you, and I only want to protect you, as I wish someone had protected me. Come, September, look out the window with me. It’s not a difficult thing. A show of faith, let’s call it. ↗

— Catherynne M. Valente

#similarities #villains #faith

Just as predatory animals follow a similar general design and behave in similar ways, so organizations, especially those in competition with one another, must follow certain design principles if they are to succeed and prevail. ↗

— Robert Shea

#behave #certain #competition #design #especially

...we have three kinds of family. Those we are born to, those who are born to us, and those we let into our hearts. ↗

— Sherrilyn Kenyon

#dark-hunters #simi #the-simi #family

As we all came to discover the limitations of assimilation, we grew closer as a family ↗

— Miguel Syjuco

#family #immigration #family

There are three types of friends: those like food without which you can't live those like medicine which you need occasionally and those like an illness which you never want. ↗

— Solomon Ibn Gabirol

#simile #food

That is the way we decided to talk, free and easy, two young men discussing a boxing match. That was the only way to talk. You couldn't let too much truth seep into your conversation, you couldn't admit with your mouth what your eyes had seen. If you opened the door even a centimeter, you would smell the rot outside and hear the screams. You did not open the door. You kept your mind on the tasks of the day, the hunt for food and water and something to burn, and you saved the rest for the end of the war. ↗

— David Benioff

#history #inspirational #jewish #jews #pessimism