Apoorva Shetty

“The emotional residue of that night was like a drop of arsenic falling into the still waters of my soul, nothing having changed from the taste of it but everything now tainted.”
― Viet Thanh Nguyen, The Sympathizer

“Reformers tout an achievement, but then a housing plan is abandoned after local opposition, a high-speed rail line is shelved for exorbitant costs, or an offshore wind farm is blocked by local fishermen. Often enough, both sides in any given debate—those who want to change things, and those who fear that change will be destructive—are well-intentioned. But the movement’s inability to resolve its conflicting impulses has turned progressive policymaking into what drag racers call “warming the tires.” A driver steps on the brake and accelerator at the same time. The wheels spin. The track screeches. But the car remains in place.”
― Marc J. Dunkelman, Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress—and How to Bring It Back

“As Hegel said, tragedy was not the conflict between right and wrong but right and right, a dilemma none of us who wanted to participate in history could escape.”
― Viet Thanh Nguyen, The Sympathizer

“Things I Want Decided

Which shouldn't exist
in this world,
the one who forgets
or the one
who is forgotten?

Which is better,
to love
one who has died
or not to see
each other when you're alive?

Which is better,
the distant lover
you long for
or the one you see daily
without desire?

Which is the least unreliable
among fickle things —
the swift rapids,
a flowing river,
or this human world?”
― Izumi Shikibu, The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan