Quotes about Introspection

I do have a life,' says Charis, blinking wet eyes. 'You have a rich inner life,' says Tony firmly. 'More than most.

And if I talk to him, I'll say something wrong, give something away. I can feel it coming, a betrayal of myself.

I say, leave me alone, this is my winter, I will stay here if I choose.

not the shore but an aquarium filled with exhausted water and warm seaweed

I felt confused, and also inadequate; whatever he was asking or demanding, it was beyond me. this was the first time a man would expect more from me than i was capable of giving, but it wouldn't be the last.

Is this purgatory, and if it is, why is it so much like the first grade?

there's often more in silences than in what is actually said — in the lips pressed together, the head turned away, the quick sideways glance. The shoulders drawn up as if carrying a heavy weight.

I walk away from her, guilt on my hands, absolving myself: I'm a good person. She could have been dying. No one else stopped. I'm a fool, to confuse this with goodness. I am not good. I know too much to be good. I know myself. I know myself to be vengeful, greedy, secretive and sly

I sink down into my body as into a swamp, fenland, where only I know the footing. Treacherous ground, my own territory.

I sink down into my body as into a swamp, fenland, where only I know the footing. Treacherous ground, my own territory.

How easy it is to invent humanity, for anyone at all. What an available temptation.

I long for periods without saying anything at all. I can be free of words now, I can lapse back into wordlessness, I can sink back into the rhythyms of transience as if into bed.