Gretchen > Gretchen's Quotes

“Individual Desirability / Aggregate Desirability = Your Desirability Ratio

The higher a relationship’s Desirability Ratio, the more stable a relationship will be. If a relationship’s Desirability Ratio drops below one for either partner, the relationship becomes very likely to dissolve.

To put that in other words: When your partner is much more desirable to you than their “league” would suggest, and when this dynamic is mutual (i.e., each partner values the other more than society on average values that other partner), your relationship will be uniquely stable. However, if either partner values the other less than that person would be valued on an open market, the relationship becomes unstable.”
― Malcolm Collins, The Pragmatist's Guide to Relationships

“A good psychologist will take already-traumatic events in your life and work with you to contextualize them as non-traumatic. A bad psychologist will take non-traumatic events in your life and twist your narrative to both make them traumatic and connect them to your current problems. The problem is that good psychologists solve your issues while bad ones create dependency and thus recurring revenue streams.”
― Simone Collins, The Pragmatist’s Guide to Crafting Religion: A playbook for sculpting cultures that overcome demographic collapse & facilitate long-term human flourishing

“With Wallace, Ali became one of the best-travelled young Malay men of the time.”
― Paul Spencer Sochaczewski, "Look Here, Sir, What a Curious Bird": Searching for Ali, Alfred Russel Wallace's Faithful Companion

“I encourage readers recovering from a kidney transplant to heed the advice of their medical practitioners.”
― Gregory S. Works, Triumph: Life on the Other Side of Trials, Transplants, Transition and Transformation

“When people grow up in a home where extramarital sex is condoned, they’re much less likely to regard it as a deal-breaker. Jacqueline Bouvier’s father, ‘Black Jack,’ confided in her about his female conquests, even going so far as to play a game with Jackie when he visited her at boarding school. She would point to a classmate’s mother, and Jack would respond, ‘Yes’ or ‘Not yet’ — answering the silent question, had he slept with that one?”
― Anne Michaud, Why They Stay: Sex Scandals, Deals, and Hidden Agendas of Eight Political Wives

“We see the pain and the misery around the world and what the demonic kingdom and the devil and demons have done to mankind.”
― John Ramirez, Fire Prayers: Building Arsenals That Destroy Satanic Kingdoms

“The wizard broke out from his mountain grave
As his red fire filled the cave
The miners ran to escape their doom
All in its path red fire would consume

The fire would destroy Sparsholt
Before cannons at the Alol melt
On Tamin Plain the flax would burn
And reveal a name… Arin

The time of the wizard is here
Destruction, death and fear
Some say the world will end
Others say a child is seeking revenge

I am a minstrel and not a seer
All I know is…
The time of the wizard is here
Destruction, death and fear
Robert Reid – The Son”
― Robert Reid, The Son

“When I was young, I asked my priest how to get to heaven and still protect yourself from all the evil in the world. He told me what God told His children;'You are sheep among wolves, be wise as the serpent, yet innocent as doves.”
― Dennis Lehane, Gone, Baby, Gone

“In this period the Prime Minister had great confidence in the Fuehrer’s word, remarking privately a day or two later, “In spite of the hardness and ruthlessness I thought I saw in his face, I got the impression that here was a man who could be relied upon when he had given his word.”46”
― William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany

“I ricordi d'infanzia, ciò che costituisce il loro potere, è che contengono una parte di mistero. Gli avvenimenti e i personaggi del passato sembrano avere un doppio fondo; credevamo di conoscerli; ci accorgiamo anni più tardi, che ci siamo sbagliati. Quello che sembrava semplice si maschera di ombra e di segreto. Al contrario, quello che allora ci intrigava si riduce a storielle di eredità o di adulterio. L'ignoranza e la sventura del bambino creano così un mondo soltanto per metà rilevato, e per metà dissimulato. E' per questa ragione, forse, che quel mondo resta nella memoria con colori così vivaci.”
― Irène Némirovsky, L'incendio e altri racconti

“Mining might convey an image of industry or technology, but I found this was not the case in the Congo. In the so-called ‘mines’, a brutally primitive process was in place involving what was effectively slave labour clawing minerals from the earth so that they could be shipped to eager cash buyers in the developed world. President Kabila headed what was effectively a cobalt and diamond cartel, while two rival factions (one backed by neighbouring Uganda, the other by Rwanda) divided up the rest of the country’s resources. Crudely, Uganda got gold and timber, and Rwanda got tin and coltan – a mineral used in mobile telephones.”
― Tim Butcher, Blood River: A Journey to Africa's Broken Heart

“Can you feel it, Joker? Feels to me... Like it's written all over my face. I've lain awake nights... planning it... picturing it...
... Endless nights...
... Considering every possible method... treasuring each imaginary moment...
From the beginning I knew...
... That there is nothing wrong with you...
... That I can't fix...
With my hands...”
― Frank Miller, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns