It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, or who had ever been alive.
People who believe that they are strong-willed and the masters of their destiny can only continue to believe this by becoming specialists in self-deception.
There are so many ways of being despicable it quite makes one’s head spin. But the way to be really despicable is to be contemptuous of other people’s pain.
