"She was becoming sad. There is no joy involved in following others' expectations of yourself"

--

Source : Miriam Toews (2001). “Swing Low: A Life”, p.69, Arcade Publishing

Miriam Toews

#Expectations Quotes #Joy Quotes #Becoming Quotes

“Hollywood was never great for children.”
“Everyone is a Taoist at heart. Everyone would like to follow nature, but we don't have enough tools yet to put the philosophy into practice... as soon as someone gets sick, they fight the illness, rather than trying to find out the meaning or purpose behind it.”
“My entire concept of lifestyle is built on the foundation of my homes. There is no more important expression of this concept than that of my own personal living space.”
“In terms of distance, the prodigal's pigsty is the farthest point from home; in terms of time, the pigsty is the shortest distance to the father's house.”
“I will practice acceptance. Today I will accept people, situations, circumstances, and events as they occur. I will know that this moment is as it should be, because the whole universe is as it should be. I will not struggle against the whole universe by struggling against this moment. My acceptance is total and complete. I accept things as they are this moment, not as I wish they were.”
“Historical chronology, human or geological, depends... upon comparable impersonal principles. If one scribes with a stylus on a plate of wet clay two marks, the second crossing the first, another person on examining these marks can tell unambiguously which was made first and which second, because the latter event irreversibly disturbs its predecessor. In virtue of the fact that most of the rocks of the earth contain imprints of a succession of such irreversible events, an unambiguous working out of the chronological sequence of these events becomes possible.”
“If I go to a party I don't feel like I have to be in the centre. But I do find myself quite often being placed in that position. Even when I was younger at school, I would be asked to make a speech. I don't remember putting up my hand and all that often but I'd just find myself there.”
“Don't aim for perfect. Aim for complete. Perfection is an unattainable illusion.”

Source : Lisa Genova (2013). “Love Anthony”, p.237, Simon and Schuster

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