Antonia

“That message is simple: When you come to one of the many moments in life when you must give an account of yourself, provide a ledger of what you have been, and done, and meant to the world, do not, I pray, discount that you filled a dying man’s days with a sated joy, a joy unknown to me in all my prior years, a joy that does not hunger for more and more, but rests, satisfied. In this time, right now, that is an enormous thing.”
― Paul Kalanithi, When Breath Becomes Air

“The tricky part of illness is that, as you go through it, your values are constantly changing. You try to figure out what matters to you, and then you keep figuring it out. It felt like someone had taken away my credit card and I was having to learn how to budget. You may decide you want to spend your time working as a neurosurgeon, but two months later, you may feel differently. Two months after that, you may want to learn to play the saxophone or devote yourself to the church. Death may be a one-time event, but living with terminal illness is a process.”
― Paul Kalanithi, When Breath Becomes Air

“Als je leven zó ondraaglijk is, als de pijn in je lichaam of in je geest onhoudbaar is, als je oprecht niet meer weet hoe je de dag door moet komen en als de dood een verlossing is, dan moet je daarvoor kunnen kiezen. En dan moet je daarbij geholpen worden. Want mensen die dood willen, gaan uiteindelijk dood. Of we ze nu helpen of niet. Het rekken van andermans leven omdat jij zijn of haar dood niet kunt accepteren vanwege je ideologie of wat dan ook; dat is egoïstisch. Dat is arrogant. Mensen mogen zelf bepalen of ze een kind maken, ze mogen ook zelf bepalen of ze dood willen. Het leven is geen verplichting.”
― Marcel Langedijk, Gelukkig hebben we de foto's nog

“I love you, a thousand times over. And I will never apologize for it.”
― Renee Ahdieh, The Wrath and the Dawn