Emily

“Since I am in this pain, the pain of having what is special taken from me, I look inside myself and I don’t like what I see: a man who is broken and alone. I think of all the time Lily and I spent together, just the two of us—the talks about boys, the Monopoly, the movies, the pizza nights—and I wonder how much of it was real. Dogs don’t eat pizza; dogs don’t play Monopoly. I know this on some level, but everything feels so true. How much of it was an elaborate construct to mask my own loneliness? How much of it was built to convince myself the attempts I made at real life—therapy, dating—were not just that: attempts?”
― Steven Rowley, Lily and the Octopus

“There's no shame in surrender when it's time to stop fighting.”
― Steven Rowley, Lily and the Octopus

“Living everyday in the presence of those who refuse to acknowledge your humanity takes great courage.”
― Min Jin Lee, Pachinko

“It was grotesque, the way I kept trying to save that relationship. Like trying to tuck an elephant into pants.”
― Rachel Khong, Goodbye, Vitamin