Helen Brown (author)

"“I used to wish I had an easier life," he mused. "Some families sail through years with nothing touching them. They have no tragedies. They go on about how lucky they are. Yet sometimes it seems to me theyre half alive. When something goes wrong for them, and it does for everyone sooner or later, their trauma is much worse. Theyve had nothing bad happen to them before. In the meantime, they think little problems, like losing a wallet, are big deals. They think its ruined their day. They have no idea what a hard days like. Its going to be incredibly tough for them when they find out."

"Guilt isnt in cat vocabulary. They never suffer remorse for eating too much, sleeping too long or hogging the warmest cushion in the house. They welcome every pleasurable moment as it unravels and savour it to the full until a butterfly or falling leaf diverts their attention. They dont waste energy counting the number of calories theyve consumed or the hours theyve frittered away sunbathing."

"Cats dont beat themselves up about not working hard enough. They dont get up and go, they sit down and stay. For them, lethargy is an art form. From their vantage points on top of fences and window ledges, they see the treadmills of human obligations for what they are - a meaningless waste of nap time.”"

"“People persuade themselves they deserve easy lives, that being human makes us somehow exempt from pain. The theory works fine until we face the inevitable challenges. Our conditioning of denial in no way equips us to deal with the difficult times that not one of us escapes."

"Cleos motto seemed to be: Lifes tough and thats okay, because life is also fantastic. Love it, live it - but dont be fooled into thinking its not harsh sometimes. Those whove survived periods of bleakness are often better at savoring good times and wise enough to understand that good times are actually great.”"

"Then there was the realisation that I didnt actually feel that much better when I was thin(ner). In fact the thin version felt worse because I lived with hunger clawing at my stomach all the time, and in fear that I was going to get fat again. After years of neuroticism Id finally understood those who loved me would continue to put up with me fat or thin, and those who didnt ignored me. As a middle-aged woman I was pretty much invisible anyway. To pass unnoticed through an image-obsessed society is surprisingly liberating"