Mandy

“We are wired to be caring for the other and generous to one another. We shrivel when we are not able to interact. I mean that is part of the reason why solitary confinement is such a horrendous punishment. We depend on the other in order for us to be fully who we are. (...) The concept of Ubuntu says: A person is a person through other persons.”
― Desmond Tutu, The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World

“Because a time comes in every man's life when he decides what sort of man he's going to be: the kind who lets other people walk all over him, or not.”
― Fredrik Backman, A Man Called Ove

“At a certain age almost all the questions a person asks him or herself are really just about one thing: how should you live your life?”
― Fredrik Backman, Britt-Marie Was Here

“Let me say right now for the record,
I’m still going to be here
asking this world to dance,
even if it keeps stepping on my holy feet.

You, you stay here with me, okay?
You stay here with me.

Raising your bite against the bitter dark,
your bright longing,
your brilliant fists of loss.
Friend, if the only thing we have to gain in staying is each other,
my god that is plenty
my god that is enough
my god that is so so much for the light to give
each of us at each other’s backs
whispering over and over and over,
“Live. Live. Live.”
― Andrea Gibson, The Madness Vase