Lindy Beaman

“Roth stared down at the table. He'd had a normal upbringing---two parents, no suicides, no murders, not even a single wayward touch from a priest in his parish. And yet he still found plenty of to complain about. What was wring with him? Just as people had a bad habit of dismissing others' problems and tragedies, so too did they have a bad habit of not appreciating what they have. Or had.”
― Bonnie Garmus, Lessons in Chemistry

“You did a pretty good job on her signature," Mad said, examining the note Harriet had written to get Mad out of school. "Except for the E and the Z."
"Well," Harriet said, irritated, "aren't I lucky the school doesn't employ forensic handwriting experts."
"You really are," Mad agreed.”
― Bonnie Garmus, Lessons in Chemistry

“And then what happened?"

What happened? Frask thought. Well, I spread vicious rumors about your mother, which culminated in her firing, which led directly to her state of penury, which led to an eventual return to Hastings, which led to your mother screaming at me in the women's bathroom, which led to the discovery that we'd both been sexually assaulted, which led to our inability to get our PhDs, which led to unfulfilling careers in a company led by a handful of incompetent assholes. That's what happened.

But instead she said, "Well, your mom decided it would be more fun to stay at home and have you.”
― Bonnie Garmus, Lessons in Chemistry

“In another universe, I meet my father when he is a child.
We play catch in the woods and as we play he tells me he isn't allowed to cry but sometimes the world hurts him and he doesn't know what to do with all that pain.
So I give him the shoulder he needs to cry on.
And he does. He does until the tears are done.
Afterwards, I buy him ice cream and I listen to his laugh, the glowing warm laugh of a child who knows he is safe.
I wish someone could have done that for him.
Been a kind, safe place for the child he used to be.
Would it have made a difference?
Would it have made a difference?”
― Nikita Gill