Abby

“In the 1970s, the literary critic Lionel Trilling mused that the authentic self, though best left undefined, was most likely the 'distinction between an inner true self and an outer false self'. The internet has created a strict line between these selves, where we understand our extrinsic self to be one crouching inside our smartphone and our intrinsic self to be hiding at home on the sofa. But it is not enough to have these separate selves; it is inauthentic to present one self online and another at home. And so we attempt to break down these boundaries through endless sharing, turning ourselves inside out for the consumption of others. Sharing has become how we socialise.”
― Pandora Sykes, How Do We Know We're Doing It Right: Other Essays on Modern Life

“Imagination is kinda like ...
a torch.
So we can remember what is true.
- In the cave of any faith.
Definitely.”
― Coco Solid, How to Loiter in a Turf War

“...so I looked myself in the mirror for something to do, occupied sufficiently by the brandy's effects and the heightened sense of myself I always get alone in somebody else's bathroom. I saw myself in character, the girl from work here at a time like this.”
― Agnes Rossi, The Quick: A Novella and Stories

“Everything her mother did was what she thought was best, as all mothers do - invisible service in the shadows of the things for which they themselves had longed.”
― Lisa Taddeo, Three Women