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“By the time it came to the edge of the Forest, the stream had grown up, so that it was almost a river, and, being grown-up, it did not run and jump and sparkle along as it used to do when it was younger, but moved more slowly. For it knew now where it was going, and it said to itself, “There is no hurry. We shall get there some day.â€� But all the little streams higher up in the Forest went this way and that, quickly, eagerly, having so much to find out before it was too late.”
― A.A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner

“I don’t make comparisons. I never think of myself in relation to anyone else. I just refuse to measure myself as part of anything. I’m an utter egotist.”
― Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead

“It is dangerous to make everybody go forward by the same road: and worse to measure others by oneself.”
― Saint Ignatius (of Loyola)

“The I realized no one wants to hear heroic stories, but everyone likes to be told about someone else's misery.”
― Juan Gabriel Vásquez, The Sound of Things Falling

“You know, lobsters just get bigger and bigger without aging and, if there were no other threats to them, they'd live forever. Sea sponges too, Mama." I call her what I used to when I was a child. "They stay beautiful and bright and they live for thousands of years. That's us.”
― Claire Kohda, Woman, Eating

“We form our impression not globally, by placing ourselves in the broadest possible context, but locally, by comparing ourselves to people in the same boat as ourselves.”
― Malcolm Gladwell, David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

“It has come to me of late that comparing one man’s work to another’s, naming one greater or lesser, is a wrong approach.

The important and only vital question is, how much greater, finer, am I than I was yesterday? Have I fulfilled my possibilities, made the most of my potentialities?

What a marvellous world if all would, â€� could hold this attitude toward life.”
― Edward Weston, The Daybooks of Edward Weston

“I never liked hearing anyone say I was the new George Gershwin, because I knew I could have never even carried that man's music case. If George Gershwin hadn't died when he was thirty-nine years old, there is no knowing how much more great music he would have written.”
― Burt Bacharach

“The television was on. It had been on for hours. Years. It was there. TV on demand, a great freedom. Hadn’t Burroughs said there was more freedom today than ever before. Wasn’t that like saying things were more like today than they’ve ever been.”
― Lynne Tillman, The Complete Madame Realism and Other Stories

“I was an only child. It was lonely."
"I was one of four. It was noisy.”
― Kate Morton, The Secret Keeper

“Your tendency to seek approval from others, to compare yourself with others and to judge yourself basis external parameters stems from a deep-rooted social conditioning. Society wants you to fit into certain frameworks, it wants you to check certain boxes so that you can be categorized, classified and made to conform to how it wants you to be. Don’t let this conditioned view of who you are get to you. Let society keep slotting you. But you just be who you are. Yearning for approval from others, for you to feel good about yourself, is futile. As long as you are causing no harm to the people or environment around you, go on, be yourself. The truth is while you can’t avoid society’s norms entirely, you can choose not to let them affect your self-worth. Who you are is seriously none of anyone’s business; and, for the same reason, what others think of you, is none of your business too!”
― AVIS Viswanathan

“I have to let go of all comparison, all rivalry and competition, and surrender to the Father’s love. This requires a leap of faith because I have little experience of non-comparing love. I can only remain in the resentful complaint that results from my comparisons. In the light of God I can finally see my neighbor as my brother, as the one who belongs as much to God as I do. But outside of God’s house, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, lovers and friends become rivals and even enemies; each perpetually plagued by jealousies, suspicions, and resentments.”
― Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming

“I feel like it's comically obvious whose meal is whose. Benny's fish is beautifully seared, with a lemon-rosemary glaze and sitting on a bed of wild rice with grilled asparagus on the side. It's becoming clearer to me all the time that the boy understated his abilities that first day, telling me he could only do pasta and pastries. Anyone who can whip something like that up without a recipe at their side is a pro in my book.
On the other hand, my dish is straight out of a heart surgeon's worst nightmares. Piles of fried fish still shimmery with grease and heavily salted and peppered, next to mashed potatoes with an extra pat of butter on top, as if the multiple sticks that went into their preparation weren't enough. It's stick-to-your-ribs, clog-your-arteries goodness.”
― Kaitlyn Hill, Love from Scratch

“Girls may be suffering more than boys [mental illnesses] because they are more adversely affected by social comparisons (especially based on digitally enhanced beauty), by signals that they are being left out, and by relational aggression, all of which became easier to enact and harder to escape when adolescents acquired smartphones and social media.”
― Greg Lukianoff & Jonathan Haidt, The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting up a Generation for Failure

“You don't need to waste your time convincing me. I get it. I get... I get that we were not what you wanted. Or needed. How small and isolated our home must have been for you, once you saw this.' He jerked his chin toward the city, where lights were now sparking into view amid the falling twilight. 'Who could compare?'

I almost said, Don't you mean what could compare? but held my tongue.”
― Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Wings and Ruin

“Ma come fa a differenziarsi dal fratello se riesce a misurarsi solo in rapporto a lui?”
― Elif Batuman, The Idiot

“Some comparisons are comparable to comparing apples and orangesâ€� seeds.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

“Sara was silent, all of her exuberance at being with Perry fading. She had come here to be with him, not to receive a lecture from his mother, no matter how well-intentioned. Why was Perry allowing it without a word? He was being complacent while his mother dominated their time together. Ignoring a twinge of resentment, Sara tried to steer the conversation in a new direction. "Tell me what happened in Greenwood Corners while I was away. How is old Mr. Dawson's gout?"
"Much better," Martha replied. "He actually put his shoes on the other day and went for a stroll."
"His niece Rachel became engaged to Johnny Chesterson the day before last," Perry added.
"Oh, that's wonderful," Sara exclaimed. "The Chestersons are lucky to have such a nice girl in their family."
Martha nodded primly. "Rachel is the kind of spiritual, self-effacing girl that Mr. Kingswood always hoped his son would marry. She would never dream of drawing attention to herself... as some young women do."
"Are you referring to me?" Sara asked quietly.
"I am making a point about Rachel."
Slowly Sara set her cup and saucer on the table and looked at Perry, who had colored at his mother's rudeness. "It's a wonder you never courted such a paragon," Sara told him, smiling although her chest was tightening with anger.
Martha answered for her son. "Perry was never free to court her or any other girls in the village. Someone else was always taking up his time with her demanding possessiveness."
Sara felt her face turn red. "Was that you or me, I wonder?”
― Lisa Kleypas, Dreaming of You

“Finding a lover is a false start.
Fibrillations of the pitipat heart.
The search for truth is a bum steer.
It's much more likely we're looking for beer.
What can I possibly rhyme with mud?
Is "pod" close enough? Or "good"?
It is the sentence that (sometimes) thinks.
All the rest is twats and dinks.”
― Robert Kroetsch, The Hornbooks of Rita K

“It is a dangerous business to compare sufferings, and generally an unproductive enterprise. Yet compare we must, because most people assume that anymal suffering is somehow lesser—or of less importance—than the suffering of human beings. Why would human suffering be of greater moral or spiritual importance than anymal suffering?”
― Lisa Kemmerer, Animals and World Religions

“I can see why you would like him."
"You can?"
"Yes, he's very good-looking, and his personality has interesting corners and edges. And he's a man, not a boy."
How like Pandora to accurately identify the reasons Cassandra found Tom Severin so compelling, and Lord Lambert so... not.
Lambert had been born to privilege, and his character was still unformed in many ways. He'd never had to make his own way in life, and likely never would. Tom Severin, by contrast, had started with nothing except his wits and will, and had become powerful by anyone's standards. Lord Lambert enjoyed a life of languid ease, while Tom blazed through his days with relentless energy. Even the side of Tom that was cool and calculating was exciting. Stimulating. There was hardly any doubt in Cassandra's mind that Lambert would be easier to live with... but as to the one she would rather share a bed with...”
― Lisa Kleypas, Chasing Cassandra

“Coach Wooden preached against comparisons and external rewards, and for focusing on becoming your best.”
― Swen Nater, You Haven't Taught Until They Have Learned: John Wooden's Teaching Principles And Practices

“That would make my job much easier. Unfortunately, the internet is like an elephant: it doesn't forget.”
― Leila Sales, If You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say

“I reached for turmeric, soft and yellow, rich but not spicy---Paul. Trent, cumin seeds---fresh, ready to be crushed. But I knew. Mashing would not crush them, it would only soften their edges, crack their husks. Cumin was strong. It endured. Next I added coriander, which seemed to balance the mixture, then paprika, ginger, and a touch of cayenne. I picked up the pestle and ground the spices. The cumin seeds rolled over the others as I ground them against the stone. Scent wafted up. It was a very Moroccan mixture, and it fit my mood---spicy and aggressive, underpinned by subtle questions and hesitancy.”
― Katherine Reay, Lizzy and Jane

“Are you with Oz now?" he asked, incredulous. Then shook his head before I could answer. "I guess you have a type."
My back teeth met with a click. "Unless you mean male, Lucian isn't anything like you.”
― Kristen Callihan, Make It Sweet

“Being with Charlie had never been easy, the way that Leo had made their night easy. Charlie viewed Nina as a kind of project. Like trying to perfect how to cook the best scrambled eggs--- she was always too runny, too soft, overdone. Over their two-year relationship, he'd tried to mold her into the kind of chef he was: admired, singular and award-winning. When she deviated from his expectations of her, they fought. But then they'd make up, and the making-up part was why they worked for as long as they had. So being on Leo's couch was the best thing for her--- a reminder that she didn't have to be miserable. Even if she actively had to ignore that espresso smell of his, and how it made her want to nuzzle her nose against his neck to get more. The last hour of eating, drinking and watching the best movie had felt like biting into a freshly baked cookie--- warm and indulgent.”
― Erin La Rosa, For Butter or Worse

“There are worse things than having a loving family and community coming out to support you.”
― Elizabeth Camden, Carved in Stone

“Ronnie stared at our grandmother. "I thought I was the shady one in the family, but Lola's got me beat."
"I don't know what that means, but if you're comparing yourself to me, I don't like it. My plans are smart. Yours are just greedy," Lola Flor said sharply.
Says the woman with a gambling addiction, but that was an issue for the therapist she refused to see. I wasn't foolish enough to say that out loud.”
― Mia P. Manansala, Murder and Mamon

“English cheeses are the finest in the world, don't you think? I don't know why anyone eats foreign cheese. Why on earth would you want a flaccid Camembert when you can have a fine, flinty farmhouse Cheddar? Most foreign cheese isn't fit to bait a mousetrap. Much of it is adulterated, you know."
Stella was partial to a well-aged Camembert, a Comté and a Cantal. The fact that one could buy Continental cheeses had been one of the pleasures of living in London, and while she'd been in Paris she'd practically lived on the stuff.”
― Caroline Scott, Good Taste

“Do you ever drink animal blood? I thought some vampires drank animal blood."
He snorted. "Twilight?"
I blushed. "Um. Yeah."
"Listen, as kickass as I've always found Edward Cullen, an entire family of celibate vampires living only on animal blood... well." He smirked, his mask of cool indifference back in place. "None of those details apply to me."
My face went hot at the innuendo.”
― Jenna Levine, My Vampire Plus-One