Vi

“I think there's a perception that fear and terror and dread are fleeting. That they hit hard and fast when they do, but they don't last. It's not true. They don't fade unless they're replaced by some other feeling. Deep fear will stay and spread if it can. You can't outrun or outsmart or subdue it. Untreated, it will only fester. Fear is a rash.”
― Iain Reid, I'm Thinking of Ending Things

“He'd start every day with a wave of anxiety at the thought of interacting with people. The strange part is he liked them. He just couldn't handle speaking with them . . . Small talk and that.”
― Iain Reid, I'm Thinking of Ending Things

“Is intelligence always good? I wonder. What if intelligence is wasted? What if intelligence leads to more loneliness rather than to fulfillment? What if instead of productivity and clarity, it generates pain, isolation, and regret?”
― Iain Reid, I'm Thinking of Ending Things

“. . . I won't stop. I promise. I won't stop. I will run as far and as fast as possible. I'll get away from here to somewhere else, anywhere else. Where things are different. Where life is possible. Where everything isn't so old.”
― Iain Reid, I'm Thinking of Ending Things