“I couldn't escape the simple thought that I hated myself, no thats not it, I hated my place in the world.”— Cameron Crowe, Jerry Maguire, Tom Cruise, imdb.com
“Girl split down the middle and re-sewn. Girl pulling stitches from the backs of her legs. Girl bleeding into plaster. Girl who cannot kneel in church. Girl tearing herself apart.”— Molly McCully Brown, pleiadesmag.com
“I bought in! Finally, after a lifetime of being too goddamn scared and you punished me for it! It just confirmed what I’ve always known; at the end of the day I’m unlovable, fundamentally, always have been.”— Stephen Falk, Gretchen Cutler, Aya Cash, imdb.com
“The bitch in the photograph wears my face. I cut off my nose, her nose collapses. Chop down my hair & hers shrieks from the sink. How many poems do I have to write ‘til she gets dead, how many live-wire syllables? I drive a fork into her heart & she comes back a quart of blood-hyped milk. Some girls…”— Rachel McKibbens, therumpus.net
“Sabine says, Honesty is the only antidote for shame. She is trying to save me. But I am tired.”— Cynthia Cruz, bombmagazine.org
“I wanted to be something else. Myself, but better. Wild, and not-yet, A burn, maybe as it is occurring.”— Cynthia Cruz, bombmagazine.org
“I always knew I was an excellent liar; I just didn’t know that I had it in me to fool myself.”— Lauren DeStefano, amazon.com
“I cried on a toilet in the middle of New York City. Four times in one day. I counted. I promise. That time I was stunned by my own pudendum. The smell. Then I became ashamed of my shame, et cetera, infinity until the end of time itself.”— Erika L. Sánchez, bostonreview.net
“I was starting to come to grips with the fact that I had created a lot of pain and suffering around me, not just within me.”— Anthony Kiedis, amazon.com
“to be a body not come out your body to be a body not be in your body to be a body to be a no body to be a body no body sees to be a body no body believes.”— H. Melt, theoffingmag.com
“Is anything more bullshit, kale-eating, juice-fasting contemporary American than the notion of self-love? "Be gentle with yourself, you deserve it." Do I really?”— Melissa Broder, amazon.com
“When you have low self-esteem, to be embraced at your most vile is a marvel.”— Melissa Broder, amazon.com
“This is the last poem where you love me and how I learn to hate myself.”— Mtichell King, spilledmilkmagazine.com
“someone: *says hi to me* me: it’s obvious that they hate me and are actually making fun of me and want me dead”— @hellishbpd, hellishbpd.tumblr.com
“Good morning! Everything is shit! Time to act impulsively. But first let's start by getting into imaginary fights with people from the past. Next let's catalog everything that's wrong with you and your life. Also, I want to remind you of everything you don't have—and everything you should be scared…”— Melissa Broder, amazon.com
“trying to convince myself i am allowed to take up space is like writing with my left hand when i was born to use my right.”— Rupi Kaur, amazon.com