SENSATIONAL SEGUE.

But there is another, deeper and more important way of remembering: a form of memory that no one ever thought to dignify with a name. This is the memory of a past that has written itself on you, in your character and in the life on which you bring that character to bear. You are not, at least not typically, aware of these memories; often they are not even the sorts of things of which you can be conscious. But they, more than anything else, make you what you are. These memories are exhibited in the decisions you make, the actions you take and the life you thereby live.

— Mark Rowlands - The Philosopher and the Wolf

But, see, that’s what I reckon God really is, Charlie. It’s that part inside me that’s stronger and harder than anything else. And I reckon prayer is just trustin in it, havin faith in it, just askin meself to be tough. And that’s all you can do. I don’t need a bunch of bullshit stories about towers and boats and floods or rules about sin. It’s all just a complicated way to get to that place in you, and it’s not honest either. I don’t need to trick meself into thinkin anyone else is listenin, or even cares. Because it doesn’t matter. I matter. And I know I’ll be alright. Because I got a good heart, and fuck this town for makin me try to believe otherwise.

— Jasper Jones (by Craig Silvey)

The wise man is always similar to himself.

— Sextus the Pythagorean.

When you do not seek or need external approval, you are at your most powerful.

— Caroline Myss - Sacred Contracts

‘Tis of the essence of life here,
Though we choose greatly, still to lack
The lasting memory at all clear,
That life has for us on the wrack
Nothing but what we somehow choose;
Thus are we wholly stripped of pride
In the pain that has but one close,
Bearing it crushed and mystified.

— Robert Frost - The Trial by Existence

I can’t tell if she’s actually real or if she’s stopped caring if she’s real or not. Or is not caring what makes a person real?

— From “A Visit from the Goon Squad” by Jennifer Egan.

Every choice we make is an expression of our beliefs.

— Carrie McCarthy & Danielle LaPorte

Style is the lighting of life. It accentuates, delineates, and conceals. At its best, style reflects the soul.

— Carrie McCarthy & Danielle LaPorte (from Style Statement)

You are real. Who you think you are is an illusion.

— Deepak Chopra