Shameless Authorial Insertion (Some Things They Won't Teach You in Books)

 

Our misery comes bequeathed to us adorned with bows and frilly ribbons. Half of us will spend our entire lives finding ways to avoid opening it, relegating it to the dust of the attic because we swear it does not belong to us. The other half will act surprised to find our own signature at the bottom of the card.

 

 

The philosopher was right: we'll never step foot in the same river again. The poet was only half right: what will survive of us is love, but so, too, will our hate.

 

 

What matters most is not how well you walk through the fire but how far you walk long after the flames have been extinguished.

 

 

Life is longer than you could ever imagine. Eternity is shorter than you think.

 

 

The love you take is not necessarily equal to the love you make.

 

 

All the stories in the history of story (including this one) and all the songs in the history of song combined could not capture the strangeness, wonder, ecstasy, or terror of being alive as you and nobody else in the wingbeat of this moment.                Chances are it will never happen again, so make it count.