The Midnight Library (Matt Haig) (Z-Library)

she wondered if her parents had ever been in love or if they had got married because marriage was something you did at the appropriate time with the nearest available person. A game where you grabbed the first person you could find when the music stopped.

focusing on where we want to go rather than where we have been.’

Sometimes regrets aren’t based on fact at all.

Sometimes regrets aren’t based on fact at all. Sometimes regrets are just . . .’ She searched for the appropriate term and found it. ‘A load of bullshit.’

you can choose choices but not outcomes.

‘Never underestimate the big importance of small things,’

‘If you aim to be something you are not, you will always fail. Aim to be you. Aim to look and act and think like you. Aim to be the truest version of you. Embrace that you-ness. Endorse it. Love it. Work hard at it. And don’t give a second thought when people mock it or ridicule it. Most gossip is envy in disguise. Keep your head down. Keep your stamina.

you will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life,’

good things are wild and free.

Henry David Thoreau. All good things are wild and free.

a pawn is the most magical piece of all. It might look small and ordinary but it isn’t. Because a pawn is never just a pawn. A pawn is a queen-in-waiting. All you need to do is find a way to keep moving forward.

You didn’t have to enjoy every aspect of each life to keep having the option of experiencing them.

You didn’t have to enjoy every aspect of each life to keep having the option of experiencing them. You just had to never give up on the idea that there would be a life somewhere that could be enjoyed.

She realised that she hadn’t tried to end her life because she was miserable, but because she had managed to convince herself that there was no way out of her misery.

It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.

It is easy to mourn the lives we aren’t living.

‘You don’t have to understand life. You just have to live it.’