Quotes from Matt Haig

Then there are other serious psychological concerns. To be constantly presenting ourselves, and packaging ourselves, like potatoes pretending to be chips. To be constantly seeing everyone else looking their best, doing fun things that we are not doing.

I like seeing what my friends are up to. Interacting. But spend more than a few minutes . . . And I start to feel, increasingly, like an inadequate nobody.

And the great thing about this—the liberating thing—is that if our anxiety is in part a product of culture, it can also be something we can change by changing our reaction to that culture. In fact, we don't even need to consciously change at all. The change can happen simply by being aware. When it comes to our minds, awareness is very often the solution itself.

And even if you were a pawn – maybe we all are – then you should remember that a pawn is the most magical piece of all. It might look small and ordinary but it isn't. Because a pawn is never just a pawn. A pawn is a queen-in-waiting. All you need to do is find a way to keep moving forward. One square after another. And you can get to the other side and unlock all kinds of power.

You're overthinking it. I have anxiety. I have no other type of thinking available.

Not to be Buddhist about it—okay, to be a little Buddhist about it—life isn't about being pleased with what you are doing, but about what you are being.

Because life isn't simply made of the things we do, but the things we don't do too.

who treated Nora like a mistake in need of correction.

You'll be fine." "I don't know if I can do this. I've gone blank." "You're overthinking it." "I have anxiety. I have no other type of thinking available.

As she spoke, Mrs Elm's eyes came alive, twinkling like puddles in moonlight.

But in the end one needs more courage to live than to kill himself.

Per goderci la vita forse dovremmo smettere di pensare a quello che non riusciremo mai a leggere, guardare, dire e fare, e iniziare a pensare a come goderci il mondo all'interno dei nostri limiti. A come vivere in una dimensione umana.

A Moment of Extreme Crisis in the Middle of Nowhere 'Oh fuck,' whispered Nora, into the cold.

If you have children and love one more than another, work at it. They will know, even if it's by a single atom less. A single atom is all you need to make a very big explosion.

She imagined seeing herself as just another brilliant freak of nature. Just another sentient animal, trying their best. And in doing so, she imagined what it was like to be free. Life and Death and the Quantum Wave Function With Hugo, it wasn't a library.

They can despise the man who kills his wife in rage but worship the indifferent soldier who drops a bomb killing a hundred children.

Also, orgasms, I realized, were an incredibly big deal. It seemed orgasms were the central tenet of life here. Maybe this was the only meaning humans had on this planet. Their purpose was simply to pursue the enlightenment of orgasm. A few seconds of relief from the surrounding dark.

Every second of every day we are entering into a new universe. And we spend so much time wishing our lives were different, comparing ourselves to other people and to other versions of ourselves, when really most lives contain degrees of good and degrees of bad.

The cold was a shock. The cold hurt my lungs, and the harsh wind beating against my skin caused me to shake. I wondered if humans ever went outside. They must have been insane if they did.

Humans don't learn from history

So, modern life is, basically, slowly killing the planet. Small wonder that such toxic societies can damage us, too.

There is only the present.

Because, Nora, sometimes the only way to learn is to live." "Sounds hard.

They can drive a car thirty miles every day and feel good about themselves for recycling a couple of empty jam jars. They can talk about peace being a good thing yet glorify war. They can despise the man who kills his wife in rage but worship the indifferent soldier who drops a bomb killing a hundred children.