Kelli’s Reviews > Atmosphere > Status Update

“You’re saying you don’t believe in a God who would hate, right? And if that God does exist, you’ll remain defiant.” “Yes, that’s…yes.” “Yeah, that’s incredibly daring! And it’s beautiful.”

Being soft and flexible was always more durable than being hard and brittle. Admitting you were afraid always took more guts than pretending you weren’t. Being willing to make a mistake got you further than never trying. The world had decided that to be fallible was weak. But we are all fallible. The strong ones are the ones who accept it.

And it did not excuse his attitude. But she understood, finally. Jimmy had been told from a young age that fear and failing and trying and wanting and openness and kindness and sincerity made him weak. And because he had believed it, he’d learned to suppress all of those things. And when he saw those traits in others, he hated them because he hated himself.

Bravery is being unafraid of something other people are afraid of. Courage is being afraid, but strong enough to do it anyway.

Then one day, this boy joins our class and he’s really good at math. Not as good as me, but almost. And he asks me for help. And I told him I’d think about it. But…I didn’t want to. I was so scared that he’d take the top score from me. I told my mom I wasn’t going to help him, and my mom said if I was going to be proud of myself for being generous, I had to do it even when it meant I might lose something.