“I realised my life would be full of mundane physical suffering, and that there was nothing special about it. Suffering wouldn't make me special, and pretending not to suffer wouldn't make me special. Talking about it, or even writing about it, would not transform the suffering into something useful.”
― Conversations with Friends
― Conversations with Friends
“Olive's private view is that life depends on what she thinks of as "big bursts" and "little bursts." Big bursts are things like marriage or children, intimacies that keep you afloat, but these big bursts hold dangerous, unseen currents. Which is why you need the little bursts as well: a friendly clerk at Bradlee's, let's say, or the waitress at Dunkin' Donuts who knows how you like your coffee. Tricky business, really.”
― Olive Kitteridge
― Olive Kitteridge
“No one can be independent of other people completely, so why not give up the attempt, she thought, go running in the other direction, depend on people for everything, allow them to depend on you, why not.”
― Normal People
― Normal People
“The main message of Jesus, I believed, is that mercy trumps justice every time.”
― When Breath Becomes Air
― When Breath Becomes Air
“While I fear that we're drawn to what abandons us, and to what seems most likely to abandon us, in the end I believe we're defined by what embraces us.”
― The Tender Bar: A Memoir
― The Tender Bar: A Memoir
Taylor’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Taylor’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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