“there are people in the world who think only about themselves. They don’t care what happens to other people so long as they get what they want. They put other people down to make themselves feel important. “Then there are people who do the opposite, who are able to imagine how others must feel, and make sure that they don’t do things that hurt people. “So,” she said, looking me squarely in the eye. “Which kind of person do you want to be?”
― A Promised Land
― A Promised Land
“It’s funny how we say a person ‘made’ us when they actually broke us.
Sort of like how I say ‘funny’... but I actually mean sad.”
―
Sort of like how I say ‘funny’... but I actually mean sad.”
―
“In the past, censorship worked by blocking the flow of information. In the twenty-first century, censorship works by flooding people with irrelevant information. [...] In ancient times having power meant having access to data. Today having power means knowing what to ignore.”
― Homo Deus: A History of Tomorrow
― Homo Deus: A History of Tomorrow
“…this is the problem with photographs. After a while, you can’t remember if you’re recalling the actual memory or the memory of the photograph.
Or perhaps the photograph is the only reason you remember that moment. (p.85)”
― The Leisure Seeker
Or perhaps the photograph is the only reason you remember that moment. (p.85)”
― The Leisure Seeker
“LOIS: The personal stuff you've been dealing with, did you feel like you needed someone to catch you? Were we not there for you?
DIANA: (pauses) You know how when people talk of depression, they talk of it both coming in storms and coming stealthily? So that, for many, it is the status quo, before they realize... that we lose our self-awareness in that. So I can't... I can't fault the people who love and care for me for not seeing what I did not myself see.
I think, again, when we have our moments of clarity, it is very easy to brush past them, to let the status quo continue. It can be very difficult and sometimes painful to turn and confront them. The only analogy I can think of is chronic pain. When that pain has been with you for so very long, it is background noise. And one is not aware of it until something happens that places it into relief.
LOIS: But you're not talking about physical pain?
DIANA: No. And I am not certain I am talking about emotional pain either. It has been difficult for me to untangle. I think there is a psychological element to it. I think it is important--and I think as a reporter that you would be inclined to agree--that we question those basic assumptions that we often decide are true.
I have found myself in a position where a great deal of what I took as true no longer seems accurate.
That may be because I have changed. That may be because the world has changed. Or it may be because I was mistaken. And it is that last that is the most concerning. I put great stock in truth--I think that's one of the reasons why we get along.”
―
DIANA: (pauses) You know how when people talk of depression, they talk of it both coming in storms and coming stealthily? So that, for many, it is the status quo, before they realize... that we lose our self-awareness in that. So I can't... I can't fault the people who love and care for me for not seeing what I did not myself see.
I think, again, when we have our moments of clarity, it is very easy to brush past them, to let the status quo continue. It can be very difficult and sometimes painful to turn and confront them. The only analogy I can think of is chronic pain. When that pain has been with you for so very long, it is background noise. And one is not aware of it until something happens that places it into relief.
LOIS: But you're not talking about physical pain?
DIANA: No. And I am not certain I am talking about emotional pain either. It has been difficult for me to untangle. I think there is a psychological element to it. I think it is important--and I think as a reporter that you would be inclined to agree--that we question those basic assumptions that we often decide are true.
I have found myself in a position where a great deal of what I took as true no longer seems accurate.
That may be because I have changed. That may be because the world has changed. Or it may be because I was mistaken. And it is that last that is the most concerning. I put great stock in truth--I think that's one of the reasons why we get along.”
―
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Shreyas’s 2025 Year in Books
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