"We are our stories. We tell them to stay alive or keep alive those who only live now in the telling."
"Some people make you feel better about living. Some people you meet and you feel this little lift in your heart, this 'Ah', because there's something in them that's brighter or lighter, something beautiful or better than you, and here's the magic: instead of feeling worse, instead of feeling 'why am I so ordinary?', you feel just the opposite, you feel glad. In a weird way you feel better, because before this you hadn't realised or you'd forgotten human beings could shine so."
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Source: Niall Williams (2014). “History of the Rain: Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2014”, p.128, A&C Black
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