"When we hold each other, in the darkness, it doesn’t make the darkness go away. The bad things are still out there. The nightmares still walking. When we hold each other we feel not safe, but better. “It’s all right” we whisper, “I’m here, I love you.” and we lie: “I’ll never leave you.” For just a moment or two the darkness doesn’t seem so bad."

"It never seemed fair that just when you’re old enough to do anything you want, you can’t."

"When you’re different, sometimes you don’t see the millions of people who accept you for what you are. All you notice is the one person who doesn’t."

"For what it’s worth: it’s never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of. If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again."

"That is my problem with life, I rush through it, like I’m being chased. Even things whose whole point is slowness, like drinking relaxing tea."

"Silence can often be more disturbing than noise, it reveals the complicated mechanism of our thoughts."

"We create illusions we need to go on. And one day, when they no longer dazzle, or comfort, we tear them down, brick by glittering brick, until we are left with nothing but the bright light of honesty. The light is liberating. Necessary. Terrifying. We stand naked and emptied before it. And when it is too much for our eyes to take, we build a new illusion to shield us from its relentless truth."

"I believe that when you love someone, she becomes beautiful to you. I believe the eyes see everything through the heart — and nothing in the world feels as good as resting them on someone you love."

"Always be a first rate version of yourself instead of a second rate version of somebody else."