Relationship Dynamics Quotes

“But friendships are mercurial. They're shape-shifters. I've learned to allow them to fluctuate and take new forms. I love my friends; that's all that matters.”
― Rachel Harrison, The Return

“After all relationships had sell-by dates. Sometimes, the ones with the most passion were the ones to burn out faster. Others had a sweet and long-winding coil which burned with slow amicability. At times, it was true, people rekindled a dying ember with a new flame. But they hardly ever noticed the rekindling had come after some time of estrangement - whether physical or emotional. Because people needed newness to make a thing last indefinitely. To make it really last. And because Jan didn't like letting people go, she knew to look for the signs of love's waning. So she could tell how to ease it down slowly into its grave and keep her lovers as friends. Because she really believed people were meant to cross paths. People were meant to stay in your life. There was a reason for all encounters. And relationships had to be cosseted, no matter their shelf life. But they had to be allowed to change shape and form. It had to be given space to grow into something different.”
― Adelheid Manefeldt, Consequence

“The heart of the problem, I soon came to understand, was that with Pablo there must always be a victor and a vanquished. I could not be satisfied with being a victor, nor, I think, could anyone who is emotionally mature. There was nothing gained by being vanquished either, because with Pablo, the moment you were vanquished he lost all interest. Since I loved him, I couldn't afford to be vanquished. What does one do in a dilemma like that?”
― Francoise Gilot, Life With Picasso

“You better not,' I warn, jabbing a finger at him.
He stares down at my outstretched finger, then back up at me, and a much more familiar—and kickable—look of amusement sprawls itself across his features. 'Has anyone ever told you that you can be pretty scary sometimes?”
― Ann Liang, This Time It's Real

“But that was the nature of relationships: there always seemed to be an imbalance of one sort or another.”
― Julian Barnes, The Only Story

“Since parting company with the priesthood he could almost be said to have become demoralised. Almost, for somehow he remained someone, a slightly mysterious someone, whom they respected, and they gave him the benefit of every doubt.”
― Iris Murdoch, The Message to the Planet

“Lies spread wide and fast. Meanwhile, the truth remains patient until it reveals itself. It hates being in the dark. It also remembers the details vividly.”
― Mitta Xinindlu

“Compassion is more than simply tolerating: When someone “tolerates” something, it implies temporary patience in enduring a particular circumstance. (It can also suggest a subtle level of arrogance as you are tolerating a less evolved or immature behavior.) And though it is true that cultivating tolerance can open the door to feeling true compassion, they are not the same thing. Authentic compassion does not require strained effort. It does not require struggle to maintain. It resonates from a deeper expression of empathy from within. Tolerance is always cultivated through personal will, while inherent compassion arises effortlessly through sincere empathetic human connection.”
― Markus William Kasunich

“No, these individuals have had their fill. They depleted the resources of communication amongst themselves. It no longer offered excitation. They wanted a tryst, a midnight rendezvous, to be tongue-tied for an evening, not having to worry about puritanical appearances, acceptable behavior, placing place settings and feeding their children with cherubic faces. Trading paradisiacal palisades of their guarded community, the spiritless suburbia for subterranean devilry. These were philistines, not patrons of the arts. They merely wanted escapism. A stranger to fill their heads. A morally corrupt stand-up comic delivering the goods: immorality, immodesty, and obscenity. Food for thought, nutritive to their stale lives. Perhaps something they could even discuss behind locked doors, back in the privacy of their safe, secure homes.”
― Nick Voro, Conversational Therapy: Stories and Plays

“Doesn’t it stress you out? Having to babysit her so she doesn’t forget she has a daughter she needs to bring with her when she moves?”
“Yeah.” She tugged her sweater over her head. “But I’m used to it.”
I recognise the defensiveness in her tone. It was the same one I used to Elton whenever he’d put down my mom, even though I complained about her constantly. It was okay for me to be angry, but if anyone else commented, I’d defend her with my last breath. The complication of having a complicated parent.”
― Sonia Hartl, The Lost Girls: A Vampire Revenge Story