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“He could almost see insider her that unnameable thing that had remained the same through all of it: her I, her very life. It seemed so small, a mustard seed with one rootlet shit deep into the earth, strong and fragile at once. But it was all there needed to be. It was everything. She had given it to him, and now he held it in his hands”
― The Invisible Bridge
― The Invisible Bridge
“A person's strength was always his weakness, and vice versa. The weakness was there to be seen if one could see it.”
― The Sympathizer
― The Sympathizer
“And then I thought to myself, "you know, what they think of you is so fantastic, it's impossible to live up to it. You have no responsibility to live up to it!"
It was a brilliant idea: you have no responsibility to live up to what other people think you ought to accomplish. I have no responsibility to be like they expect me to be. It's their mistake, not my failing.”
― Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character
It was a brilliant idea: you have no responsibility to live up to what other people think you ought to accomplish. I have no responsibility to be like they expect me to be. It's their mistake, not my failing.”
― Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character
“He winced. I had hit him where it hurt, in the solar plexus of his conscience, where everyone who was an idealist was vulnerable. Disarming an idealist was easy. One only needed to ask why the idealist was not on the front line of the particular battle he had chosen. The question was one of commitment.”
― The Sympathizer
― The Sympathizer
“The hardest thing to do in talking to a woman was taking the first step, but the most important thing to do was not to think. Not thinking is more difficult than it sounds, and yet, with women, one should never think. Never. It simply won't do. The first few times in approaching girls, during my lycée years, I had thought too much, hesitated, and as a result, flailed and failed. But even so, I discovered that all the childhood bullying directed at me had toughened me, making me believe that being rejected was better than not having the chance to be rejected at all. Thus it was that I approached girls, and now women, with such Zen negation of all doubt and fear the Buddha would approve. Sitting down next to Lana and thinking of nothing, I merely followed my instincts and my first three principles in talking to a woman: do not ask for permission; do not say hello; and do not let her speak first… Fourth principle: give a woman the chance to reject something else besides me… which gave me a few seconds to say something while she focused on (the original offer).”
― The Sympathizer
― The Sympathizer
Terry’s 2025 Year in Books
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