Monicaivanov

“As the Hindu gods are “immortal” only in a very particular sense—for they are born and they die—they experience most of the great human dilemmas and often seem to differ from mortals in a few trivial details…and from demons even less. Yet they are regarded by the Hindus as a class of beings by definition totally different from any other; they are symbols in a way that no human being, however “archetypal” his life story, can ever be. They are actors playing parts that are real only for us; they are the masks behind which we see our own faces. —WENDY DONIGER O’FLAHERTY, INTRODUCTION, HINDU MYTHS (PENGUIN BOOKS, 1975)”
― Neil Gaiman, American Gods

“But it was a dream, and in dreams, sometimes, you have no choices: either there are no decisions to be made, or they were made for you long before ever the dream began.”
― Neil Gaiman, American Gods

“All we have to believe with is our senses, the tools we use to perceive the world: our sight, our touch, our memory. If they lie to us, then nothing can be trusted. And even if we do not believe, then still we cannot travel in any other way than the road our senses show us; and we must walk that road to the end.”
― Neil Gaiman, American Gods

“and the worst of the tragedy is that we have heard it before, and we cannot allow ourselves to feel it too deeply.”
― Neil Gaiman, American Gods