LILY

“Never give up on something that you can’t go a day without thinking about.”

“I used to dislike being sensitive. I thought it made me weak. But take away that single trait, and you take away the very essence of who I am. You take away my conscience, my ability to empathize, my intuition, my creativity, my deep appreciation for the little things, my vivid inner life, my deep awareness of others’ pain, and my passion for it all.”

“Listen. I wish I could tell you it gets better. But, it doesn’t get better. You get better.”

“Nothing in nature blooms all year. Be patient with yourself.”

“I take inaction to be true happiness, but ordinary people think it is a bitter thing. I say: the highest happiness has no happiness, the highest praise has no praise. The world can’t decide what is right and what is wrong. And yet inaction can decide this. … Let me try putting it this way. The inaction of Heaven is its purity, the inaction of earth is its peace. So the two inactions combine, and all things are transformed and brought to birth. Wonderfully, mysteriously, there is no place they come out of. Mysteriously, wonderfully, they have no sign. Each thing minds its business, and all grow up out of inaction. So I say, Heaven and earth do nothing, and there is nothing that is not done.”

“It takes a huge effort to free yourself from memory.”

“We don’t grow up, we grow riper.”

“I believe that kindness is the universal language. When someone does something kind it is understood despite language barriers or cultural differences. We should really communicate with kindness more often.”

“I can do nothing for you but work on myself. You can do nothing for me but work on yourself.”

“Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different.”

“I think we regular people may have forgotten a basic truth—we don’t really have the right to judge anyone else.”

“The best way I can love you is by not losing myself in you, but growing with you.”

“That’s who you really like. The people you can think out loud in front of.”