John

“Why wasn’t friendship as good as a relationship? Why wasn’t it even better? It was two people who remained together, day after day, bound not by sex or physical attraction or money or children or property, but only by the shared agreement to keep going, the mutual dedication to a union that could never be codified. Friendship was witnessing another’s slow drip of miseries, and long bouts of boredom, and occasional triumphs. It was feeling honored by the privilege of getting to be present for another person’s most dismal moments, and knowing that you could be dismal around him in return.”
― Hanya Yanagihara, A Little Life

“You got somebody in your corner, you lucky ... and blessed. And when you get that, you gotta know it, stand by it, and treat it with care. To nurture it. To build on it.”
― James Earl Hardy, B-Boy Blues: A Seriously Sexy, Fiercely Funny, Black-on-Black Love Story

“Death rarely changes how we feel about someone. Heightens it, more often than not.”
― Jane Harper, The Dry

“this: We were all created in His image, and yet we were each created different and unique. No two people are alike. No two hearts beat to the same rhythm. If God had wanted everyone to be the same, He would have made it so. Therefore, disrespecting differences and imposing your thoughts on others is tantamount to disrespecting God’s holy scheme.”
― Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love