Alexandra

“Was I kind to others? It was hard to nail down an answer. I worried that if I did turn out to have a personality, it would be one of the unkind ones. Did I only worry about this question because as a woman I felt required to put the needs of others before my own? Was “kindness” just another term for submission in the face of conflict? These were the kind of things I wrote about in my diary as a teenager: as a feminist I have the right not to love anyone.”
― Sally Rooney, Conversations with Friends

“I thought about all the things I had never told Nick about myself, and I started to feel better.”
― Sally Rooney, Conversations with Friends

“You underestimate your own power so you don't have to blame yourself for treating other people badly.”
― Sally Rooney, Conversations with Friends

“But in a solitary life, there are rare moments when another soul dips near yours, as stars once a year brush the earth. Such a constellation was he to me.”
― Madeline Miller, Circe