Lise

“People are afraid to pursue their most important dreams, because they feel that they don’t deserve them, or that they’ll be unable to achieve them. We, their hearts, become fearful just thinking of loved ones who go away forever, or of moments that could have been good but weren’t, or of treasures that might have been found but were forever hidden in the sands. Because, when these things happen, we suffer terribly.”
― Paulo Coelho

“What happiness is there in just the memory of happiness?”
― Julian Barnes, Levels of Life

“Ik ben niets meer, niets meer van mijzelf, geen gedachte, geen gevoel, ik ben alleen de oppervlakte, waar de zon mij raakt; de oude huid van de slang, waaruit ze is verdwenen. Zo is het eenvoudig te bestaan: als afgeworpen omhulsel van een kronkelende inwendigheid.”
― Patricia De Martelaere, Nachtboek van een slapeloze

“The feeling that she had never really lived in this world caught her by surprise. It was a fact. She had never lived. Even as a child, as far back as she could remember, she had done nothing but endure. She had believed in her own inherent goodness, her humanity, and lived accordingly, never causing anyone harm. Her devotion to doing things the right way had been unflagging, all her successes had depended on it, and she would have gone on like that indefinitely. She didn't understand why, but faced with those decaying buildings and straggling grasses, she was nothing but a child who had never lived.”
― Han Kang, The Vegetarian