Be happy. It's one way of being wise.

You don’t love someone because they’re perfect, you love them in spite of the fact that they’re not.

My message to all men is that you have to kill pride. You’ve been taught that pride is a manly thing, that pride is a good thing. But the problem with pride is that it stops you from growth. When you’re so proud that you won’t change, you’ve got problems. … When you kill that pride, instantly, you become a better person, because now you’re listening. Now you don’t know it all. Now you’re humble. Now you can grow and get smarter.

Good intentions don’t excuse bad behavior. You will always enjoy yourself less when you have planned for it. Grief has no solution. Let it be. Not forgiving someone destroys you more than it destroys them. Sometimes there are no amount of encouraging words to pull someone out of the sheer exhaustion and melancholy of being alive. People see you the most when you don’t want to be seen at all. Honest laughs must be drawn out until all the air is gone. Like a balloon. Panic attacks exist to make you think your life is wrong. It is nearly impossible to maintain a close friendship when one person is depressed and the other is not. Not really knowing someone is what makes a life look interesting. Like when the movie trailer is better than the movie. If you need them to care more than they do, it won’t happen. Ever. Learning to dance in public without pretense is incredibly liberating, and people will envy you for it. There is a spiritual war raging inside all of us. Deciding to do something different just because you know it’s different does not make you unique. Unique is liking what you like. Unique is shamelessly admitting how much you still love that band even after they’ve sold out. Being alone is powerful. People don’t praise others because they’re afraid there will be no glory left for them. Nostalgia is the art of abandoning details. You’re never fooling anyone nearly as much as you’re fooling yourself. Small talk is THE WORST. No one hates the prettiest person in the room more than the 2nd prettiest person in the room. Regrets are useful, not useless. Dwelling is useless. Humbling yourself is the biggest component of self-improvement. It’s easier to get in your own way than it is for anyone else to. Kindness is the fastest way to earn respect. Depression is a lack of willingness. Opposites attract because they have so much to learn from each other. If you have to test their love, you’re not worthy. Half-hearted encouragement is worse than no encouragement at all. If a woman is constantly being let down by a man, it’s because she doesn’t know how powerful it is to be a woman. Nothing could be more bittersweet than knowing that it’s not going to play out the way you envision it. Helping people is the most rewarding thing on the planet and the least practiced. If you had everything figured out about anything, you wouldn’t be here. The more you don’t wear makeup, the better you look without it. Love is not rare. Unconditional love is. You’re the only one who thinks your family is embarrassing. Getting rid of one vice means replacing it with another. It’s all in your head. Literally.

know this: you can start over, each morning.

A part of me wants you in the most innocent way possible: taking off your shoes in my bedroom, climbing under the sheets and watching whatever’s in my Netflix queue, barely even touching as we talk about our days until we fall asleep with our clothes still on. But another, hungrier part of me wants you unbuttoning your shirt before you’re completely through my door, falling onto my bed, and scrambling to make your fingers unbutton my shirt faster Your mouth shaking out my name the entire time.

I need to stop imagining situations in my head that aren’t going to happen.

You’re way too young to believe it’s not going to be okay.