Quotes from Matt Haig

Chaque livre écrit est le produit d'un esprit humain dans une disposition particulière. Additionnez tous les livres, et vous obtenez la somme totale de l'humanité. Chaque fois que je lisais un bon livre, j'avais l'impression de lire une sorte de carte au trésor, et le trésor vers lequel elle me menait était en fait moi-même.

Every book written is the product of a human mind in a particular state. Add all the books together and you get the end sum of humanity.

I need to tame the past. That is what history is, the teaching and telling of it. It is a way to control it and order it. To turn it into a pet.

Cities try to shame us into action, as they know stillness is the preserve of the destitute, the dangerous, the dead.

Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves.' He looked perplexed. 'Where did that come from? Is that a quote?' 'Yeah. Henry David Thoreau. You know, my fave philosopher.

As Emily Dickinson, eternally great poet and occasionally anxious agoraphobe, said: "That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet.

Total fame was when you reached the point where looking like a hero, or genius, or god, required minimal effort.

The weird thing about depression is that, even though you might have more suicidal thoughts, the fear of death remains the same. The only difference is that the pain of life has rapidly increased.

There is this idea that you either read to escape or you read to find yourself. I don't really see the difference. We find ourselves through the process of escaping.

Adjusting her hands into position for E-flat major, she was momentarily distracted by a tattoo on her weirdly hairless forearm, written in beautifully angled calligraphic letters. It was a quote from Henry David Thoreau. All good things are wild and free.

sometimes the only way to learn is to live.' 'Sounds hard.

Between life and death there is a library,' she said. 'And within that library, the shelves go on for ever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices . . . Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?' A

Wild, she thought to herself. Free.

Maybe Shakespeare was right. Maybe all the world was a stage. Maybe without the act everything would fall apart. The key to happiness wasn't being yourself, because what did that even mean? Everyone had many selves. No. The key to happiness is finding the lie that suits you best.

Et surtout, les livres. Ils étaient, en eux même, une raison de rester en vie.

He joined his hands together and made a steeple of his index fingers, which he placed under his chin, as if he was Confucius contemplating a deep philosophical truth about the universe rather than the boss of a musical equipment shop dealing with a late employee.

Librarians have knowledge. They guide you to the right books. The right worlds. They find the best places. Like soul enhanced search engines.

If we keep going in a straight line we'll get out of here. Walking one foot in front of the other, in the same direction, will always get you further than running around in circles. It's about the determination to keep walking forward. It's okay It's okay to be broken.

The thing you have to remember is that this is an opportunity and it is rare and we can undo any mistake we made, live any life we want. Any life. Dream big . . . You can be anything you want to be. Because in one life, you are.

They die, and so they have impatience.

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.

Want,' she told her, in a measured tone, 'is an interesting word. It means lack. Sometimes if we fill that lack with something else the original want disappears entirely. Maybe you have a lack problem rather than a want problem. Maybe there is a life that you really want to live.

There was also the option of a "vest," which covered the marginally less shameful chest area. This area included the sensitive skin protrusions known as "nipples." I had no idea what purpose nipples served, though I did notice a pleasurable sensation when I tenderly stroked my fingers over them.

it would have made things a lot easier if we understood there was no way of living that can immunise you against sadness. And that sadness is intrinsically part of the fabric of happiness. You can't have one without the other. Of course, they come in different degrees and quantities. But there is no life where you can be in a state of sheer happiness for ever. And imagining there is just breeds more unhappiness in the life you're in.