Sara Grochowski

“Sometimes you change your mind about a person,' I tell her. 'Or your feelings for them change, or they change, or, I don't know, you just want to make a different decision. And that's always okay. You don't owe anyone anything. You know that, don't you?' 'What do you mean?' she says. 'I mean, like with Matt. I wanted to date him, and then I didn't want to anymore, and some people made me feel guilty for that. As if he deserved whatever he wanted, and I was being selfish for not giving it to him.' 'Are you talking about sex?' she asks matter-of-factly. 'No,' I say. 'Yes. Kind of. I'm talking about everything: dating, kissing, sex. All of it. You never owe another person something, no matter how nice they are to you. Relationships aren't transactions.”
― Emily Henry, The Love That Split the World

“The words strike like they never did before. Before words were flat. Now I hear them - understand in a new way.”
― Jewell Parker Rhodes, Towers Falling

“All the creatures on Earth might be made from stardust. But we are the only ones who get to know it. That's the thing about jellyfish: They'll never understand that. All they can do is drift along, unaware. We humans may be newcomers to this planet. We may be plenty fragile. But we're also the only ones who can decide to change.”
― Ali Benjamin, The Thing About Jellyfish

“Who knows? Maybe everybody's end isn't the day they actually die, but the last time anyone speaks of them. Maybe when you die you don't really disappear, but you fade into a shadow, dark and featureless, only your outlines visible. Over time, as people forget you, your silhouette gradually fades into darkness until the final time anyone says your name on this planet.”
― Ali Benjamin, The Thing About Jellyfish