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Eve continued with the inexorable process of dying, Zoe spent too much time with her grandparents, and Denny and I worked at slowing the beating of our hearts so we wouldn’t feel so much pain.

I would like to tell you that I am such a master of my destiny that I contrived the entire situation, that I made myself crazy so Zoe could calm me on this trip, and thus would be distracted from her own agitation. Truth me told, however, I have to admit I was glad she was holding me; I was very afraid, and I was grateful for her care.

I marveled at them both; how difficult it must be to be a person. To constantly subvert your desires. To worry about doing the right things, rather than doing what is most expedient.

Such a simple concept, yet so true: that which we manifest is before us; we are the creators of our own destiny. Be it through intention or ignorance, our successes and our failures have been brought in by none other than ourselves.

She wasn’t asking me. She was asking Denny, and I was merely Denny’s surrogate. Still, I felt the obligation. I understood that, as a dog, I could never be as interactive with humanity as I truly desired. Yet, I realised at that moment, I could be something else. I could provide something of need to the people around me.

And while I greatly resented the attention Eve lavished on her unborn baby, in retrospect, I realise I had never given her a reason to lavish that same attention on me. Perhaps that is my regret: I loved how she was when she was pregnant, and yet I knew I could never be the source of her affection in that way because I could never be her child.

But what I’ve always liked best is when he talks about having no memory. No memory of things he’d done just a second before. Good or bad. Because memory is time folding back on itself. To remember is to disengage from the present.

My littermates and I were tussling around like we always did, and a hand reached into the pile and found my scruff and suddenly I was dangling high in the air.
“This one,” a man said.

It was my first glimpse of the rest of my life.

Mostly-slow training also does a better job of strengthening the parts of the brain where tolerance for suffering resides.

In contrast, low-intensity, high-volume training teaches the mind to accept that it might as well make peace with its suffering because it won’t end anytime soon.

I’m not sure. Normal isn’t like a weather; you can’t expect normal. You can’t even make normal. From what I can tell, normal may not exist.

“I’m speaking of fixing us, Mr.Roth-our mistakes. Nature works on a higher intellectual plane. We can learn more, we can go further, but to accomplish this, we must throw open the doors, too many brilliant minds are kept from scientific research thanks to ignorant biases like gender and race. It infuriates me and it should infuriate you. Science has big problems to solve.

“- that to improve things, we should pray. But the truth is, we are very much responsible for the badness in the world. And we have the power to fix it.”

“I agree that society leaves much to be desired, but when it. Ones to religion, I tend to think it humbled us - teaches us our place in the world.”
“Really? She said, surprised. “ I think it lets us off the hook. I think it teaches us that nothing is really our fault; that something or someone else is pulling the strings; that ultimately, we’re not to blame for the way things are;

“Feeling like one doesn’t fit is a horrible feeling,” she continued, unruffled. “Humans naturally want to belong - its part of our biology. But our society makes us feel that we’re never good enough to belong. Do you know what I mean, Phil? Because we measure ourselves against useless yardsticks of sex, race, religion, politics, schools. Even height and weight-“

“Tired? Busy? Probably going to argue you don’t have time.”
“Because I don’t.”
“Who does? Being an adult is overrated, don’t you think?” He said. “Just as you solve one problem, ten more pull up.” - Dr. Mason

“Take a moment for yourself,” Harriet said. “Every day.”
“A moment.”
“A moment where you are your own priority. Just you. Not your baby, not your work, not your dead Mr. Evans, not your filthy house, not anything. Just you. Elizabeth Zott. Whatever you need, whatever you want, whatever you seek, reconnect with it in that moment. Then recommit.”

“Before I go, Elizabeth, can I offer just one bit of advice?” Harriet began. “Actually no, I won’t. I hate getting advice, especially unsolicited advice.” she turned to the ruddy color. “Do you hate advice givers? I do. They have a way of making one feel inadequate. And the advice is usually lousy.” - Harriet Sloane

She nodded, imagining a newly orphaned boy trying to convince himself of a brighter future. That had to be a special brand of bravery, for a child to endure the worst, and despite every law in the universe and all evidence to the contrary, decide the next day might be better.

Calvin let loose a long, low whistle. When one is raised on a steady diet of sorrow, it’s hard to imagine that others might have had an even larger serving.

“One thing I’ve learned, Calvin: people will always yearn for a simple solution to their complicated problems. It’s a lot easier to have faith in something you can’t see, can’t touch, can’t explain, and can’t change, rather than to have faith in something you actually can.” She sighed. “One’s self, I mean.” She tensed her stomach.

“Be brave and do what is right. For the weary and the frightened, create a paradise on the cold bones of this earth.” - Lady Kang

“We must learn to embrace the new seasons in our lives. There is a season to gain, a season to lose; a season for peace, a season for war; a season to laugh, a season to mourn, and to betray. As for me, I long for change,” she added in a whisper. “I will soon be sent to a better place - my real home.”

“Whether you are the sun, the earth, or the moon, you are as capable girl. To me. Your mind, somehow, can grasp the chaotic threads of this case. There aren’t too many like you, Damo Seol. Man or woman.”