Christilee Johnson

“Here is a list of things defined as rewarding: sweet taste in the mouth, orgasm, mild temperature, smiling child. And here is a list of nasty things: various sorts of pain, nausea, empty stomach, screaming child. If you should happen to do something that is followed by one of the nasty things, don’t do it again, but on the other hand repeat anything that is followed by one of the nice things.”
― Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene

“A woman who silences her unhappiness is a woman who carries a formidable enemy within her. This woman should dance and scream, on and on, exorcise the spirit that possesses her.”
― Véronique Olmi, Bakhita: A Novel of the Saint of Sudan

“You can’t tiptoe around your heart in fear of pissing people off or hurting their feelings. Sometimes we need to be a little selfish in order to avoid a life of complacency.”
― Jennifer Hartmann, Still Beating

“Nothing hinders a good investigation more than trying to affix moral labels such as good or bad, right or wrong, to the actions or actors in the mystery you are trying to solve.”
― Matthew Bogdanos, Thieves of Baghdad: One Marine's Passion to Recover the World's Greatest Stolen Treasures