“To read is to withdraw.To make oneself unavailable. One would feel easier about it if the pursuit inself were less...selfish.”

“To grumble about the world and its unhappiness is always easier than to beat one's breast and groan over oneself.”

“Lies were something you told other people to make things easier, somehow - hopefully, for them, but often more selfishly for yourself.”

“One makes discoveries about oneself but more often one makes up discoveries.”

“Given the reality of unintended parenthood and parental unhappiness, one would think that women and men who make the decision not to have children - who are deliberate and thoughtful about the choice to bring another person into the world - would be seen as less selfish than those who unthinkingly have children. Yet the stigma remains.”

“The things one feels are different about oneself are the things that are rare, that give each person their value - and these are the things they try to repress. The imitate and make out they love life!”