Mike K

“Apart from this lying, or because of it, what most tormented Ivan Ilych was that no one pitied him as he wished to be pitied. At certain moments after prolonged suffering he wished most of all (though he would have been ashamed to confess it) for someone to pity him as a sick child is pitied.”
― Leo Tolstoy, The Death of Ivan Ilych

“And you’re alone, but not lonely.” It was still early, and they were the only customers in the bar. Music from a jazz trio played softly in the background. “I suppose,” Tsukuru said after some hesitation.”
― Haruki Murakami, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

“What if I forgave myself? I thought. What if I forgave myself even though I'd done something I shouldn't have? What if I was a liar and a cheat and there was no excuse for what I'd done other than because it was what I wanted and needed to do? What if I was sorry, but if I could go back in time I wouldn't do anything differently than I had done? What if I'd actually wanted to fuck every one of those men? What if heroin taught me something? What if yes was the right answer instead of no? What if what made me do all those things everyone thought I shouldn't have done was what also had got me here? What if I was never redeemed? What if I already was?”
― Cheryl Strayed, Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

“You never enjoy the world aright, till the sea itself floweth in your veins, till you are clothed with the heavens, and crowned with the stars.”
― Douglas E. Harding, On Having No Head: Zen and the Rediscovery of the Obvious