“It is hard for me to imagine that I felt good about behaving like that. I also remember that the smallest gesture of affection would bring a lump to my throat, whether it was directed at me or at someone else. Sometimes all it took was a scene in a movie. This juxtaposition of callousness and extreme sensitivity seemed suspicious even to me.” SometimesHardRememberFeltImagineSceneAffectionExtremesThroatGesturesImagine ThatSmallestSensitivitySuspiciousLumpsJuxtapositionCallousness Book:The Reader Source: The Reader
“Does everyone feel this way? When I was young, I was perpetually overconfident or insecure. Either I felt completely useless, unattractive, and worthless, or that I was pretty much a success, and everything I did was bound to succeed. When I was confident, I could overcome the hardest challenges. But all it took was the smallest setback for me to be sure that I was utterly worthless. Regaining my self-confidence had nothing to do with success...whether I experienced it as a failure or triumph was utterly dependent on my mood.” WayFeelsDoeSelfYoungFeltChallengesConfidenceSucceedOvercomingBoundsSelf ConfidenceMoodHardestTriumphUselessDependentSmallestInsecureWorthlessSetbackUnattractiveOverconfident Book:The Reader Source: The Reader
“I didn't like the way I looked, the way I dressed and moved, what I achieved and what I felt I was worth. But there was so much energy in me, such belief that one day I'd be handsome and clever and superior and admired, such anticipation when I met new people and new situations. Is that what makes me sad? The eagerness and belief that filled me then and exacted a pledge from life that life could never fulfill? Sometimes I see the same eagerness and belief in the faces of children and teenagers and the sight brings back the same sadness I feel in remembering myself.” PeopleWayFeelsChildrenSometimesRememberFacesBeliefEnergyFeltSituationSadnessMetsOne DaySightMovedFilledCleverSuperiorsTeenagerAnticipationHandsomePledgeEagernessNew Situations Book:The Reader Source: The Reader
