aira

“It is a terrible thing to learn as a child that one is a being separate from all the world, that no one and no thing hurts along with one's burned tongues and skinned knees, that one's aches and pains are all one's own. Even more terrible, as we grow older, to learn that no person, no matter how beloved, can never truly understand us. Our own selves make us most unhappy, and that's why we're so anxious to lose them, don't you think?”
― Donna Tartt, The Secret History

“They were both after all, still children whose lives were dictated by powers above them.”
― Suzanne Collins, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

“It was like waking from a nightmare to a worse nightmare.”
― Donna Tartt, The Secret History

“But if you act like you don’t belong, if you act like you’re apologetic for your own self, then people will start to treat you that way, too.”
― Hanya Yanagihara, A Little Life