“Change is one thing, progress is another. ‘Change’ is scientific, ‘progress’ is ethical; change is indubitable, whereas progress is a matter of controversy.”
— Bertrand Russell, Unpopular Essays

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@abigailgamble
“Change is one thing, progress is another. ‘Change’ is scientific, ‘progress’ is ethical; change is indubitable, whereas progress is a matter of controversy.”
— Bertrand Russell, Unpopular Essays
The woman must ceaselessly earn a confidence not initially granted to her: at the outset she is suspect; she has to prove herself. If she is any good, she will, people say. But worth is not a given essence: it is the result of a favourable development. Feeling a negative judgement weighing on one rarely helps one to overcome it.
The Second Sex
“What is writing … but an attempt to sort out the confusion of life?”
Isabel Allende
The boy and his heart had become friends, and neither was capable now of betraying the other.
The Alchemist
“I cannot rid myself of the feeling that I’m not in the right place.”
— Franz Kafka, Advocates
If you pay attention to the present, you can improve upon it. And, if you improve upon the present, what comes later will also be better.
Paulo Coelho “The Alchemist”
Life is the moment we’re living right now.
Paulo Coelho “The Alchemist”
Ralph Waldo Emerson | @wordsnquotes
“Time does not heal all wounds. Some pain becomes part of who you are.”
— David R. Dow, Things I’ve Learned from Dying
“I love being reminded that existence itself is all about the tangling of souls.”
— Carolyn Mackler, Tangled (via weltenwellen)
Like eyes are to the soul, words are a portal into our understanding of our own individual worldviews.
Raymond Williams
“What a terrible feeling to love someone and not be able to help them.”
— Jennifer Niven, All The Bright Places
“Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.”
— Margaret Mead (via fy-perspectives)
On First Love
How lovely it is to have someone you’re sad to say goodbye to. Someone you already miss before they’ve left.
I’ve lived whole lives in my imagination.
i am unaffected by “your flaws are beautiful” rhetoric. i appreciate the care behind it; that a person wanted me to feel better enough they’d lie to me and try to deny me access to ugly.
but there are things about me that are ugly. i live in society, i know the rules and where i fall short of them. i know about my arm jiggle and the scars and the bad skin and the square fingernails. i know about them.
i find these body-positive pieces odd to read, you know. they still put me into little parts: my frizzy hair, my crooked nose, the rest of me. they list possibly ugly categories; stretch marks, freckles, teeth.
but i don’t really care about that? i don’t really care about the reception of my body? either you’re going to find me beautiful or ugly or somewhere in between.
i want to be body-positive in the sense that you don’t point out my flaws, because it’s fucking mean. that you let me live in my silk robes and sweatpants equally.
you’ve got a body and it exists. it might not be flawless. it might not be beautiful. but it deserves to exist in the way you want it to exist. it deserves to be ugly without punishment. you deserve to be judged by the quality of your person instead of the skin you’re in. you deserve to be a person, wholly, without regard to appearances.
physical form is annoying. i’m looking to return mine and get a refund. but there are beautiful things about it that aren’t beautiful aesthetically. it’s beautiful when i kiss somebody. when i touch softness. when an animal sits on your lap. it’s beautiful when i catch something out of the air and everyone in the room goes crazy; it’s beautiful to be outside when a thunderstorm is coming. it’s beautiful to exist in the sense that i wouldn’t know about a sunset without it.
you might not be beautiful. who cares. your experiences are what’s worth it, not your body. new music is worth it, art is worth it, a book you haven’t written yet is worth it. you’re worth loving not because someone can add up the parts of you and forgive the flaws. you’re worth loving because you’re in this world, that’s all.
i’m happy people find strength in body positivity. i’m happy there are people out there kind enough to be trying, who endlessly compliment things. maybe i’m just jaded and mean.
i don’t need to be lied to, you know? no matter how many times you tell me that my body is beautiful, it won’t change how people see me. what matters is how i see myself, and i want to be more than beautiful. i want to be smart, and kind, and better at maths. some things are ugly. but i love ugly sweaters and ugly socks and ugly dogs. and i love them regardless.
sometimes love makes things beautiful by default. when you love yourself, you see beautiful as a result. i feel like this process is reversed, somehow: if we tell you you’re beautiful enough, you’ll find love. it’s an equation that can’t always go in that direction, you know? at least i think, i’m bad at maths, so.
be ugly. who cares. but go find beautiful things to experience. the first snow and wedding invitations and eating a whole loaf of good french bread. i’m ugly, okay.
but i’m learning to be fine with it.