Ruska

“In a Society in which there is no law, and in theory no compulsion, the only arbiter of behaviour is public opinion. But public opinion, because of the tremendous urge to conformity in gregarious animals, is less tolerant than any system of law. When human beings are governed by ‘thou shalt not’, the individual can practise a certain amount of eccentricity: when they are supposedly governed by ‘love’ or ‘reason’, he is under continuous pressure to make him behave and think in exactly the same way as everyone else.”
― George Orwell, Politics vs Literature

“If you can only be tall because someone else is on their knees, then you have serious problem. And white people have a very, very serious problem.”
― Toni Morrison

“Then it wasn't and she was, and now it is and she wasn't.”
― William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying

“For a moment I felt joyful, and then I felt completely exhausted.”
― Ottessa Moshfegh, My Year of Rest and Relaxation