Anna

“I look for external validations of worth, and I always end up crazy over it,” I said. “It’s good you can acknowledge that,” Terri said. “How long have you been doing that?” “My whole life. Isn’t that what we learn as children? To look for affirmation in the external? Our fathers and mothers?” I said. “Some children are taught self-esteem from a young age,” she said.”
― Terese Marie Mailhot, Heart Berries: A Memoir

“Casey, I want to be polite and present myself as decent. I know the math of regret and nostalgia. The potency of your touch times the distance between that touch and today determines the intensity of my desperation. I regret leaving you, and I’m disappointed you let me go.”
― Terese Marie Mailhot, Heart Berries: A Memoir

“The past is never dead. It's not even past.”
― William Faulkner, Requiem for a Nun

“I think self-esteem is a white invention to further separate one person from another. It asks people to assess their values and implies people have worth. It seems like identity capitalism.”
― Terese Marie Mailhot, Heart Berries: A Memoir