People have far more in common than they would ever guess. But we spend too much time judging other peoples' differences. We're all weird, and insecure, and lost, way deep down... But why does it seem like everyone is so damn afraid to go there? I'd like to think it's better than what true loneliness feels like. -Erin Forquer

Everybody is identical in their secret unspoken belief that way deep down they are different from everyone else.  -David Foster Wallace

It's infinitely harder to judge someone once you've heard their story. I've spent most of my life striving to be great, or perfect, at something, instead of just trying to be good... to me, to you, to the world. -Erin Forquer

Opinion is really the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no understanding. The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another's world. It requires profound purpose larger than the self kind of understanding. - Bill Bullard

It becomes infinitely harder to judge someone, once you've heard their story. Their unfiltered, unedited, terrifyingly real story of everything they've seen, felt, experienced and endured. The story that everyone has, that explains why they are who they are. Be grateful every time someone is brave enough to tell you their story. -Erin Forquer

Loving someone is so vulnerable... It's exhausting, and terrifying, and sometimes it breaks you. I just hope, after all the heartache, that I can continue to put my faith in the right people. -Erin Forquer

I wish I could be your mirror.

Please, don't ever forget the power of your words. They have an infinite reach, and an endless lifespan. -Erin Forquer

Sometimes, the saddest thing about love, is the beauty that is destroyed in the process... -Erin Forquer

You might as well face your demons now. Because all that haunts you, even your dreams, will follow you. -Erin Forquer

I am so glad I have struggled. It reminds me of what I can endure, and what human beings are capable of surviving. -Erin Forquer

It's not always true that absence makes the heart grow fonder. Sometimes, it just makes it grow wearier. -Erin Forquer

Quote Rick Riordan

We all need to retreat at times.. but don't hide for too long, the world needs your beauty. -Erin Forquer

If I could make you believe one thing- it would be this; the most important things you'll ever do are the hardest, and the most painful. But that is exactly why you have to do them. We grow in love, but we grow in pain, too. -Erin Forquer

Life is confusing. Sometimes, it isn't enough to try to be great, or perfect.... but rather just simply try to be good. -Erin Forquer

I wish I was brave enough to wear my heart on my sleeve. To let the world see all my scars, my hopes, my dreams, my fears and what haunts me. I'm a work in progress, and I'm working on it. -Erin Forquer

Love never turns out the way you think it will. And loss, or heartache, leaves two people in a place they could have never anticipated... Strangers in a strange, but familiar land.. trying to make sense of the surrounding fading memories that no longer add up.. And trying to understand that- well, that is the anguish of love lost. -Erin Forquer

Maybe you broke my heart. Maybe my blindness let me break my own. Maybe I broke yours.. Regardless, I'm tired of everything being broken, including me. -Erin Forquer

Don't hate yourself for your mistakes. They are part of your story, and your story isn't finished yet. -Erin Forquer

Find the things, or people, that keep you afloat.. and hold onto them like a life raft when your life turns into a storm. -Erin Forquer

The world may be broken, and wildly unfair... But you can keep fighting to not let it break you, or tarnish the beauty that is yours, and yours alone. Erin Forquer

The easiest people to connect to, are the ones who don't pretend. Or hide. Or act like the world doesn't bother them. -Erin Forquer

Hope may be a fickle thing at times.. it can prolong our suffering and fool us into many things. And even though the truth may be that love isn't fair, or even kind sometimes, and perhaps fairness doesn't really exist, we all still need hope. We need to believe, to hold desperately onto the possibility that things can be better, because sometimes... they actually turn out that way. And that is worth the risk. -Erin Forquer

Find the places, and people, who celebrate you exactly as you are. And if you can't find them around you, then let me apologize for the world... we all too often don't recognize beauty when we desperately need it. -Erin Forquer

I only know my story, not yours. It's okay if you stay. But I will go where all of me is celebrated, wherever I am met in fields and celebrated. - Emily Maynard

One day you'll wake up... hard, face down on the concrete. Your body will ache, but it will be nothing compared to the pain that exists deep within your heart. And eventually, when the scabs form and the scars settle in, you'll realize the only thing gained from loving a certain person is the new knowledge you have of what you don't want. I hope you find whatever peace you can in that truth, because its all I have. -Erin Forquer

"Often, it's the most deserving people who cannot help loving those who destroy them."

It's important to feel other peoples' pain. But don't let it allow you to forget your own. Because when you forget the pain, you forget the love, too. -Erin Forquer

Let it be known that I was who I am. 

I used to write this for you... Then in spite of you.... And then because of you... Now, I write this for me. Because my journey didn't begin, or end, with you. And that is both liberating and overwhelming.

First you broke in and you stole my loneliness. But then you gave it back, and took everything good with you. But I'll track it down again.

Love me 'til I'm me again. 

Sometimes, you just have to give life a chance. And remember, no matter what it throws at you, that life is worth living. But sometimes you have to give it a chance to prove it to you.

Sometimes, the greatest gift we can learn, is unlearning all the damage, hate, and doubt that the world has taught us.

Forget what we're told, before we get too old. 

-Snow Patrol

Sometimes, we find our truths in ugly places. But sometimes, we find our saviors there, too.

Quote: Erin Forquer

And it was. It was worth it. I have the scars to prove it.

It took me a while to get it. Maybe too long. Maybe too soon. But at least I know what's true to me.

With the pain, comes understanding. -Erin Forquer

Anne Frank once said “Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.” I think that's pretty true of humanity, too.

“Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.”

-Anne Frank

Don't stop fighting. But most of all, don't stop believing there is something worth fighting for (it's your life).

Ever tried?

Ever failed?

No matter. 

Try again. 

Fail again. 

Fail better.

-Samuel Beckett

Don't let love conquer you. It's there for you to find- conquer all the defenses you've built against it.

Don't let the fear of losing something hold you back. And if you do lose it, then it was never really yours at all.

Don't let your happiness depend on something you may lose.

-C.S. Lewis

There are so many people I can't wait to meet. I hope we find each other, and that I see you.... really see you.

Let everything happen to you. But don't let it break you.

Let everything happen to you. 

Beauty & terror. 

Just keep going,

No feeling is final. 

-Rilke

The most meaningful things, are often the most uncomfortable. But that's when growth happens.

In the scheme of things, life may be short. But it's the longest thing you'll ever do. So do something with it.

More often than not, the parts of ourselves that we hide from the world, end up hiding a whole world from us.

Quote: Shel Silverstein

I might be fragile, but I am also mendable. Sometimes, I have to remind myself of that.

There are so many fragile things, after all.  

People break so easily, and so do dreams and hearts. 

-Neil Gaiman

I wonder about all the beautiful moments I've missed out on, because we're all so scared to be truly vulnerable.

I wish I could have mercy, or peace, for my own beat-up life.

-The Secret life of Bees

Maybe I loved you more than you loved me. But I would rather love too much, than not enough.

To the people who lift my soul, please stay. And to the people who steal from it, I hope I'm strong enough to say goodbye.

New York I love you for all of the crazy, beautiful, wonderful people who currently inhabit you. I’ve never felt a love like you before.

“You’re already home where you feel love.”