Josie

“Because art is a fragile magic, just like love, and that’s humanity’s only defense against death. That we create and paint and dance and fall in love, that’s our rebellion against eternity. Everything beautiful is a shield.”
― Fredrik Backman, My Friends

“Maybe it was something I haven’t thought about yet because like my mum said, I don’t know anything. All I know is I don’t know anything at all.”
― Emma Stonex, The Lamplighters

“But Benji still grins, that damn smile that’s as much a bird’s as a bear’s. Then he says:

"You’re already in love with me. You just haven’t realized it yet.”
― Fredrik Backman, The Winners

“Who decides which… deaths are tragic and which are not? Who decides what is big and what is little? Is it a matter of numbers or physical mass or intelligence? If you are a little creature or a little person dying alone and in pain, you may not remember or know that you are little. If you are in enough pain, you may not remember who or what you are; you may know only your suffering, which is immense… What decides – common sense? Can common sense dictate such things?”
― Mary Gaitskill, Lost Cat