Lillian

“I remember Mum repeatedly telling us we had good hearts and good brains. When she said that we'd say 'thanks' and it might have sounded as if we were thanking her for seeing us that way but actually we were thanking her for giving us whatever goodness was in us.”
― Helen Oyeyemi, What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours

“This girl had been looking on with her hair hanging over her face, only partly hiding a cruel-looking scar; her eyes shone with hatred. Not necessarily hatred of your father or of puppets or the other children, but a hatred of make-believe, which did not heal, but was only useful to the people who didn't need it.”
― Helen Oyeyemi, What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours

“There is this thing that distance does where it subtracts warm and context and history and each finds that they are arguing with a stranger.”
― Lesley Nneka Arimah, What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky

“People change, and as the years go by, so do our environments. I think it's alright for there not to be a "proper" way of living. But I do believe that instead of trying to be satisfied on just one answer and blocking out the rest, searching for more answers, despite the pain they may bring, is a much more honest way of living.”
― Inio Asano, おやすみプンプン 6 [Oyasumi Punpun 6]