Danah Austen

“It soothes our vanity to say that we failed because we’re too good, or that we’re broke because we’re too honest. But this is not true. Until we have wiped every impure thought from our minds and cleansed every spot from our souls, how can we know that our sufferings are the result of our virtues and not our faults? Or that victory will not come to us tomorrow, if we persist through today’s setbacks?”
― Sam Torode, As a Man Thinketh: 21st Century Edition

“Does productivity equal success? If you have to give up all the things you love in order to rise up the corporate ladder or reach a goal, is it really a win? If your endless pursuit of an objective makes you physically ill—think chronic stress, gut issues, or high blood pressure—is it really an achievement? If you’re riddled with anxiety or wracked with worry from constantly pushing, is it really worth it? What are you really trying to accomplish, what void are you trying to fill with this nonstop pursuit?”
― Alisa Vitti, In the Flo: Unlock Your Hormonal Advantage and Revolutionize Your Life

“Our culture, however, demands perpetual growth and harvest. Trying to live your life in nonstop growth and harvest mode is taxing for your endocrine system.”
― Alisa Vitti, In the Flo: Unlock Your Hormonal Advantage and Revolutionize Your Life

“I do like my life. I flail for meaning sometimes, maybe too often, but it is a full life, and a life I own. I have learned this of myself, that I cannot do without people and I cannot do without stretches of sustained isolation. To be alone is not always to be lonely. Sometimes I withdraw for weeks merely to be with myself, and I sink into reading, my life’s great pleasure, and I think, and I enjoy the silence of my own musing.”
― Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Dream Count