Steph S

“Embrace diversity.
Unite—
Or be divided,
robbed,
ruled,
killed
By those who see you as prey.
Embrace diversity
Or be destroyed.”
― Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Sower

“Perhaps this was why as one grew older one broke down and cried for oneself less, because tears for oneself could only come when one ignored the suffering of everybody else, or pretended at least that it was not significant. As you got older the suffering of others became more difficult to ignore, as you saw more of life and became more a part of the world it became harder to imagine that the pain you faced was unique and in need of special attention, and as a result crying for yourself felt indulgent unless you could pretend that nobody else existed, or that your own pain was different and more exceptional, and to do this perhaps it was easier if you found somewhere to be completely alone.”
― Anuk Arudpragasam, The Story of a Brief Marriage

“Emotionally disconnected parents don't suddenly develop a capacity for empathy just because a child does something to please them.”
― Lindsay C. Gibson, Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: How to Heal from Distant, Rejecting, or Self-Involved Parents

“This is the problem with adventures. They bring out parts of you that you never even knew were there.”
― Cressida Cowell, The Wizards of Once