Lieve Verbruggen

“THE WORLD IS increasingly designed to depress us. Happiness isn’t very good for the economy. If we were happy with what we had, why would we need more? How do you sell an anti-ageing moisturiser? You make someone worry about ageing. How do you get people to vote for a political party? You make them worry about immigration. How do you get them to buy insurance? By making them worry about everything. How do you get them to have plastic surgery? By highlighting their physical flaws. How do you get them to watch a TV show? By making them worry about missing out. How do you get them to buy a new smartphone? By making them feel like they are being left behind. To be calm becomes a kind of revolutionary act. To be happy with your own non-upgraded existence. To be comfortable with our messy, human selves, would not be good for business.”
― Matt Haig, Reasons to Stay Alive

“We need to be allowed to convince ourselves that we're more than the mistakes we made yesterday. That we are all of our next choices, too, all of our tomorrows.”
― Fredrik Backman, Anxious People

“They say that a person’s personality is the sum of their experiences. But that isn’t true, at least not entirely, because if our past was all that defined us, we’d never be able to put up with ourselves. We need to be allowed to convince ourselves that we’re more than the mistakes we made yesterday. That we are all of our next choices, too, all of our tomorrows.”
― Fredrik Backman, Anxious People

“Wat bepaalt een mens meer dan zijn omgeving? Hij ademt in het ritme van de wind, hij komt tot rust wanneer de zon ondergaat. Hier herinneren de immense bergen en de brandende zon je er voortdurend aan dat je niet meer bent dan een kiezel tussen de rotsen, een rimpeling in de oceaan, een blad in een bos, een grasspriet in het veld. Wie te veel met zichtzelf bezig is, wie denkt hij of zij meer is dan een klein onderdeeltje van de natuur, loopt al snel met zijn kop tegen de muur.”
― Ish Ait Hamou, Cécile