“She described herself as happy. This diagnosis did not come from any welling up of joy inside herself. It came from the observed fact, looking at herself objectively, that whenever she decided she wanted something she always got it, and what other definition of happiness could there be?”

“She did not care very much for other little girls, but if she had plenty of books she could console herself.”

“She carried a knife inside of herself now, one that was always cutting her. She could feel it every time she swallowed, every time her thoughts strayed from the splendor of the wild.”

“She lacks confidence, she craves admiration insatiably. She lives on the reflections of herself in the eyes of others. She does not dare to be herself.”

“She could only realize that she herself — her present self — was in some way different from the other self. That she was seeing with different eyes.”

“A man or woman is seldom happy unless he or she is sustaining him or herself and making a contribution to others.”

“To become the object, she takes herself and transforms herself into a thing: all freedoms are diminished and she is caged, even in the cage docile, sometimes physically maimed, movement is limited: she physically becomes the thing he wants to fuck.”

“She often had to remind herself that she couldn't do everything alone. She wasn't always the best person for the job. Sometimes she got tunnel vision and forgot about what other people needed.”

“Nanny Ogg never did any housework herself, but she was the cause of housework in other people.”

“Ah," she said to herself, "want of an object to live for—that's all is the matter with me!”