But who can remember pain, once it’s over? All that remains of it is a shadow, not in the mind even, in the flesh. Pain marks you, but too deep to see. Out of sight, out of mind.
The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood

You are part of my existence, part of myself. You have been in every line I have ever read, since I first came here, the rough common boy whose poor heart you wounded even then. You have been in every prospect I have ever seen since – on the river, on the sails of the ships, on the marshes, in the clouds, in the light, in the darkness, in the wind, in the woods, in the sea, in the streets. You have been the embodiment of every graceful fancy that my mind has ever become acquainted with. The stones of which the strongest London buildings are made, are not more real, or more impossible to displace with your hands, than your presence and influence have been to me, there and everywhere, and will be. Estella, to the last hour of my life, you cannot choose but remain part of my character, part of the little good in me, part of the evil.
Great Expectations, Charles Dickens

“When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help. That’s the message he is sending.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh

“Through my love for you, I want to express my love for the whole cosmos, the whole of humanity, and all beings. By living with you, I want to learn to love everyone and all species. If I succeed in loving you, I will be able to love everyone and all species on Earth… This is the real message of love.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh

“For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh

“Sometimes what you want the most is what you’re better off without.”

“It’s just like losing someone you love. Even when you know it’s the best thing, it still hurts.” ~Nora Roberts

Marlin: How do you know that nothing bad won’t happen?
Dory: I don’t.”
~Finding Nemo

“There will always be people in your life, Sweet Angel, who hold you back, who cost you too much, and who fail to see all you’ve done for them. But, of course, they’re just there to teach you that you do have time, that you’ll always be rich, and that your own high standards are all that matter.Sounds like a good deal to me, Sweet Angel.” ~You knew that, The Universe

“That’s the only reason people get angry. Because they’re hurt. They get angry to cover up the hurt.” ~Ruthie from Real World Hawaii

“I saw you today for the first time in a while and my brain doesn’t seem to remember that I don’t love you anymore. It plagued me with complete lack of speech, shaky hands, and the inability to look you in the eye without smiling.”

“A guy and a girl can be just friends but at one point or another, they will fall for each other. Maybe temporarily, maybe at the wrong time, maybe too late, or maybe forever.” ~Dave Matthews

“I hope that someday, somebody wants to hold you for twenty minutes straight, and that’s all they do. They don’t pull away. They don’t look at your face. They don’t try to kiss you. All they do is wrap you up in their arms, without an ounce of selfishness in it.”

bukowski

Learn, he says, that there will be hours, days
and months ahead of feeling absolutely terrible
and nothing can change that; neither new
girlfriends, health professionals, changes of diet, dope, humility, or
God.

I suppose like others
I have come through fire and sword,
love gone wrong,
head-on crashes, drunk at sea,
and I have listened to the simple sound of water running
in tubs
and wished to drown

"being alone never felt right. sometimes it felt good, but it never felt right."

"I drive around the streets
an inch away from weeping,
ashamed of my sentimentality and
possible love."

"your letters got sadder. your lovers betrayed you. kid, I wrote back, all lovers betray. it didn't help. you said you had a crying bench and it was by a bridge and the bridge was over the river and you sat on the crying bench every night and wept for the lovers who had hurt and forgotten you."

so it's always a process of letting go, one way or another

"Finally there is nothing here for death to take away."

"Our disappointment sits between us."

"as she
drove me through the hills everything screamed inside of
me, and I kept saying as we drove along
(to myself, of course)
fucker, it will pass,
everything passes,
it's all a joke
a joke on you"

"Belane, are you nuts?"
Who knows? Insanity is comparative. Who sets the norm?"

"I feel strangely normal."

"and getting dressed we talk about what else there might be to do, but being together solves most of it, in fact, solves all of it"

"I can never drive my car over a bridge without thinking of suicide.
I can never look at a lake or an ocean without thinking of suicide."

"I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead;
I lift my lids and all is born again.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)

The stars go waltzing out in blue and red,
And arbitrary blackness gallops in:
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.

I dreamed that you bewitched me into bed
And sung me moon-struck, kissed me quite insane.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)

God topples from the sky, hell's fires fade:
Exit seraphim and Satan's men:
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.

I fancied you'd return the way you said,
But I grow old and I forget your name.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)

I should have loved a thunderbird instead;
At least when spring comes they roar back again.
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)"

sylvia plath- mad girl's love song