I Don't Want to Die Poor: Essays

Knowing people aren’t being totally honest with what they are showing you doesn’t mean what they show you still can’t get to you.

You cannot allow yourself to be consumed by the standards set by others or any misguided reaction to the knowledge that everyone’s journey is different.

You have to be able to afford choice. Happiness is expensive.

It’s one thing to ask people to go cordless or consider a gym-less life, but should we be giving people platforms to share how they paid off their loans by forgoing health insurance, owning a car, having a place of their own? Why are we highlighting people as success stories who felt compelled to stunt their lives to this severity?

People may have your absolute best intentions at heart, but dreams often die at the encouragement of those who have long since let theirs die.

He countered the way a thoughtful, socially conscious person who quit a job for one that felt like it mattered more in terms of contributions to society is expected to: stressing that money wasn’t the end all, be all. Or the key to happiness. Yeah, yeah, I get that lesson, but in terms of my life, having financial security means I can embark on the

It’s adorable to believe we live in a meritocracy, but so much of certain types of success is dictated by everything else besides perceived special talents and abilities. It’s about privilege, and how that privilege gives way to greater access and larger means than are offered those who lack it.

have to conquer all that leads me to rush for an escape.

It’s one thing to intellectualize it, but critical thinking and analysis don’t make you feel it. To feel it is to make you empathetic in ways you previously thought were implausible.