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Lucy Grealy

Lucy Grealy Books

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“The second week of chemo was worse in that I knew what to expect. This presented a curious reversal of fear for me, because I already understood that with other types of pain the fear of not knowing about it usually brought about more suffering than the thing itself. This was different. This was dread. It wasn’t some unknown black thing hovering and threatening in the shadows; it had already revealed itself to me and, knowing that I knew I couldn’t escape, took its time stalking me. This was everything I ever needed to know about Fate.”

Fate
Book:Autobiography of a Face
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“This singularity of meaning--I was my face, I was ugliness--though sometimes unbearable, also offered a possible point of escape. It became the launching pad from which to lift off, the one immediately recognizable place to point to when asked what was wrong with my life. Everything led to it, everything receded from it--my face as personal vanishing point.”

SometimesFacesLiftsUglinessUnbearablePadsSingularityVanishingLaunchingVanishing Point
Book:Autobiography of a Face
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“I used to think truth was eternal, that once I knew, once I saw, it would be with me forever, a constant by which everything else could be measured. I know now that this isn’t so, that most truths are inherently unretainable, that we have to work hard all our lives to remember the most basic things.”

ThinkingKnowsHardWisdomWould BeTruthRememberUsedForeverKnowingSawsOur LivesSeeingHard WorkEternalConstantInherentMeasurementBasicsLife LearningBasic Things
Book:Autobiography of a Face
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“I spent five years of my life being treated for cancer, but since then I've spent fifteen years being treated for nothing other than looking different from everyone else. It was the pain from that, from feeling ugly, that I always viewed as the great tragedy of my life. The fact that I had cancer seemed minor in comparison.”

YearsDifferentFactsFeelingsPainFiveTragedyCancerUglyTreatedFive YearsComparisonMinorsFifteenFifteen YearsGreat Tragedy
Author:Lucy Grealy
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