How does one lift one’s own life out of the mundane and into something epic? Surely one should be brave enough to love?
“When a woman finally learns that pleasing the world is impossible, she becomes free to learn how to please herself.”
― Untamed
― Untamed
“My life was an unending, unchanging midnight. It must, by necessity, always be midnight for me. So how was it possible that the sun was rising now, in the middle of my midnight?”
― Midnight Sun [2008 Draft]
― Midnight Sun [2008 Draft]
“Mothers have martyred themselves in their children’s names since the beginning of time. We have lived as if she who disappears the most, loves the most. We have been conditioned to prove our love by slowly ceasing to exist.
What a terrible burden for children to bear—to know that they are the reason their mother stopped living. What a terrible burden for our daughters to bear—to know that if they choose to become mothers, this will be their fate, too. Because if we show them that being a martyr is the highest form of love, that is what they will become. They will feel obligated to love as well as their mothers loved, after all. They will believe they have permission to live only as fully as their mothers allowed themselves to live.
If we keep passing down the legacy of martyrdom to our daughters, with whom does it end? Which woman ever gets to live? And when does the death sentence begin? At the wedding altar? In the delivery room? Whose delivery room—our children’s or our own? When we call martyrdom love we teach our children that when love begins, life ends. This is why Jung suggested: There is no greater burden on a child than the unlived life of a parent.”
― Untamed
What a terrible burden for children to bear—to know that they are the reason their mother stopped living. What a terrible burden for our daughters to bear—to know that if they choose to become mothers, this will be their fate, too. Because if we show them that being a martyr is the highest form of love, that is what they will become. They will feel obligated to love as well as their mothers loved, after all. They will believe they have permission to live only as fully as their mothers allowed themselves to live.
If we keep passing down the legacy of martyrdom to our daughters, with whom does it end? Which woman ever gets to live? And when does the death sentence begin? At the wedding altar? In the delivery room? Whose delivery room—our children’s or our own? When we call martyrdom love we teach our children that when love begins, life ends. This is why Jung suggested: There is no greater burden on a child than the unlived life of a parent.”
― Untamed
“It is the peculiar nature of the world to go on spinning no matter what sort of heartbreak is happening.”
― The Secret Life of Bees
― The Secret Life of Bees
“But books, like people, die. They die in fires or floods or in the mouths of worms or at the whims of tyrants. If they are not safeguarded, they go out of the world. And when a book goes out of the world, the memory dies a second death.”
― Cloud Cuckoo Land
― Cloud Cuckoo Land
This Is Public Health Book Club
— 1447 members
— last activity Dec 31, 2025 02:10PM
The goal of the This Is Public Health (TIPH) Book Club is to foster discussion between prospective students, current students, and public health profe ...more
Booktok 📚
— 227026 members
— last activity 17 minutes ago
A place for booktokers to interact with each other and share the love
Read With Jenna (Official)
— 31927 members
— last activity 1 hour, 13 min ago
When anyone on the TODAY team is looking for a book recommendation, there is only one person to turn to: Jenna Bush Hager. Jenna will select a book a ...more
Reese's Book Club x Hello Sunshine
— 175164 members
— last activity 4 hours, 41 min ago
Hey Y’all, We’ve been reading together for awhile and we don’t know about you, but we’re ready to hear your thoughts and opinions. This group is a pl ...more
Breanna’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Breanna’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Breanna
Lists liked by Breanna




























