Rachel Gilmore

“I had that sensation which sometimes comes to us all, of returning to a situation that had already been resolved on some previous occasion, of being again committed to a tragic course of action, having learned nothing from that other time or those other times”
― Paul Scott, The Jewel in the Crown

“One always saw and sees through pretense.”
― Paul Scott, The Jewel in the Crown

“Deny people something they want, over a longish period, and they naturally start disagreeing about precisely what it is they do want.”
― Paul Scott, The Jewel in the Crown

“With age comes self-awareness, or something that looks like self-awareness, and so I try to be on the lookout for patterns of behavior, choices I’m making where I’m trying too hard, giving too much, reaching too intently for being right when right is what someone else wants me to be. It’s scary, though, trying to be yourself and hoping yourself is enough. It’s scary believing that you, as you are, could never be enough.”
― Roxane Gay, Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body