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“She had come to imagine mediocrity and disappointment were her destiny. Indeed, Nora had always had the sense that she came from a long line of regrets and crushed hopes that seemed to echo in every generation.”

Quote by Matt Haig

Book:The Midnight Library
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The Midnight Library

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Author

Matt Haig
Matt Haig

Matt Haig is a British novelist born in 1975. His works are known for their humor and profound emotional insight, enjoying great popularity among readers. Haig's writing spans a variety of genres, including science fiction, fantasy, and realism. more

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“Lorenzo married a local English woman called Patricia Brown, who was also getting used to life's disappointments, having exchanged her dream of being an actress for the mundane, daily theatre of the suburban housewife, and whose culinary skills were forever under the ghostly shadow of her dead Puglian mother-in-law and her legendary spaghetti dishes, which, in Lorenzo's eyes, could never be surpassed.”

Matt HaigThe Midnight Library
Book:The Midnight Library
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“On both sides of her family there had been an unspoken belief that life was meant to fuck you over. Nora's dad, Geoff, had certainly lived a life that seemed to miss its target. He had grown up with only a mother, as his dad died of a heart attack when he was two, cruelly hiding somewhere behind his first memories. Nora's paternal grandmother had been born in rural Ireland but emigrated to England to become a school cleaner, struggling to bring in enough money for food, let alone anything approaching fun.”

Matt HaigThe Midnight Library
Book:The Midnight Library
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“At first she couldn't see the faces, because the lights were pointing towards her, and beyond that glare everything seemed like darkness. Except for a mesmerizing milky way of camera flashes and phone torches. She could hear them, though. Human beings when there's enough of them together acting in total unison become something else. The collective roar made her think of another kind of animal entirely. It was at first kind of threatening, as if she was Hercules facing the many-headed Hydra who wanted to kill him, but this was a roar of total support, and the power of it gave her a kind of strength. She realised, in that moment, that she was capable of a lot more than she had known.”

Matt HaigThe Midnight Library
Book:The Midnight Library
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“Oh. Yeah, well, that might be bad. But it might not be. You do realise there are infinite possibilities here? I mean, the multiverse isn't about just some universes. It's not about a handful of universes. It's not even about a lot of universes. It's about an infinite number of universes. Even with you in them. You could be you in any version of the world, however unlikely that world would be. You are only limited by your imagination. You can be very creative with the regrets you want to undo. I once undid a regret about not doing something I'd contemplated as a teenager — doing aerospace engineering and becoming an astronaut — and so in one life I became an astronaut. I haven't been to space. But I became someone who had been there, for a little while. The thing you have to remember is that this is an opportunity and it is rare and we can undo any mistake we made, live any life we want. Any life. Dream big...You can be anything you want to be. Because in one life, you are.”

Matt HaigThe Midnight Library
Book:The Midnight Library
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“In the Hindu religion, one can[not] have freedom of speech. A Hindu must surrender his freedom of speech. He must act according to the Vedas. If the Vedas do not support the actions, instructions must be sought from the Smritis, and if the Smritis fail to provide any such instructions, he must follow in the footsteps of the great men. He is not supposed to reason. Hence, so long as you are in the Hindu religion, you cannot expect to have freedom of thought”

ReligionGreat MenHinduismFreedom Of SpeechRationalityFreedom Of ThoughtVedasPuranasSmritis
Author:B.R. Ambedkar
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“He was close to her now. There was something equally annoying and attractive about Hugo. He exuded an arrogant amorality that made his face something to either slap or kiss, depending on the circumstance. 'In one life we have known each other for years and are married...' he said. 'In most lives I don't know you at all,' she countered, now staring straight at him. 'That's so sad.' 'I don't think so.' 'Really?' 'Really.' She smiled. 'We're special, Nora. We're chosen. No one understands us.' 'No one understands anyone. We're not chosen.' 'The only reason I am still in this life is because of you...' She lunged forward and kissed him.”

Matt HaigThe Midnight Library
Book:The Midnight Library
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