Witty and valuable thoughts from Matt Haig’s book «People and Me», addressed to a 15-year-old teenager who — of course — managed to become disillusioned with life.
Don’t worry about your abilities. You are capable of love. It’s enough.
***
The probability of your birth was a value tending to zero, it was virtually impossible. So to deny the impossible is to deny yourself.
***
Technology will not save humanity. People will save him.
***
There will be 25 days in your life. Live in such a way that some of them are remembered.
***
New technologies are what you will laugh at in 5 years. Appreciate what in 5 years will not be laughed at. Love, for example. Or a good poem. Or the sky.
***
Happiness is not somewhere else, it is here.
You are not the smartest creature in the universe. You’re not even the smartest creature on your planet.
The tonal language in the song of the humpback whale is more complex than all of Shakespeare’s works put together. Life is not a competition. All in all, though, it’s a competition. But forget it.
***
Don’t be cold to people. There is enough cold in the Universe already. What matters is what keeps you warm.
***
No one is completely right about anything. Never.
***
Each of us is funny. If people laugh at you, they just don’t get the joke they are.
***
Everything matters.
***
You are in control of time. It can be stopped with a kiss. Or music. Music, by the way, allows you to see what you can’t see otherwise. It’s the most progressive you have. This is a superpower. Don’t drop the bass. You are doing well. Find yourself a group.
***
Bad things will happen from time to time. It would be nice if someone was always there.
***
Listen to the voice of reason. Listen to your heart. Trust your gut. Most importantly, don’t follow anyone’s orders.
When a black hole forms, a powerful burst of gamma radiation blinds entire galaxies and destroys millions of worlds. You can disappear at any second. In this. Or another. Try to devote as much time as possible to activities for which you would be happy to die.
***
Nobody will understand you. But for the most part, it doesn’t matter. It is important that you understand yourself.
***
Politeness often hides fear. Kindness is always courage. Caring for others makes you human. Take care of others, be more humane.
***
Mentally rename every day to Saturday. Call work «play».
***
Searching for the meaning of life does not bring happiness. Meaning is only the third most important thing. First of all, you need to love and live.
***
Don’t kill yourself. Even when the darkness is impenetrable. Always remember that life does not stand still. Time is space. You move in this galaxy. Wait and see the stars.
***
You are lucky you are alive. Take a deep breath and experience the joys of life. Don’t take a single flower petal for granted.
***
You are a good man, Gulliver Martin.
***
I love you. Remember this.
***