7 Quotes by Otessa Moshfegh

Sometimes reading is like medicine, other times it is a confrontation with God — I don’t do it much in public.

Its the map of my childhood, my sadness, my Eden, my hell and home. when I look at it now, my heart swells with gratitude, then shrinks with disgust.

Idealism without consequences is the pathetic dream of every spoiled brat

I liked looking at things other people had let go of. Maybe the pillowcase I was sniffing had been used on an old man's deathbed. Maybe this lamp had sat on an end table in an apartment for fifty years. I could imagine all the scenes it had lit: a couple making love on the sofa, thousands of TV dinners, a baby's tantrums, the honeyed glow of whiskey in an Elks Lodge tumbler. Goodwill indeed.

And that was exactly what I wanted - my emotions passing like headlights that shine softly through a window, sweep past me, illuminate something vaguely familiar, then fade and leave me in the dark again.

Reva could never soberly admit to any desire that was remotely uncouth. But she wasn't perfect.

I'm old now. I don't move vigorously or frenetically anymore. Now I'm graceful. I move with measured and elegant precision, but I am slow. I'm like a beautiful tortoise. I don't wast my energy. Life is precious to me now.