tia

“He will be someone who is defined, first and always, by what he is missing.”
― Hanya Yanagihara, A Little Life

“You spent so much time explaining yourself, your work to others—what it meant, what you were trying to accomplish, why you had chosen the colors and subject matter and materials and application and technique that you had—that it was a relief to simply be with another person to whom you didn’t have to explain anything.”
― Hanya Yanagihara, A Little Life

“But then, once you agree, it is necessary that you, the cajoler, move into the realm of self-deception, because you can see that it is costing them, you can see how much they don't want to be here, you can see that the act of existing is depleting for them, and then you have to tell yourself every day: I am doing the right thing.”
― Hanya Yanagihara, A Little Life

“He sits at the table and reads novels, old favorites of his, the words and plots and characters comforting and lived-in and unchanged.”
― Hanya Yanagihara, A Little Life