Maebelline Holland Quotes

“And then Mae found herself sobbing. Her father was a mess . . . And there was nothing she could do for him. No, there was too much to do for him. She could quit her job. She could quit and help make the phone calls, fight the many fights to keep him well. This is what a good daughter would do. What a good child, an only child, would do.”

“You know how you finish a bag of chips and you hate yourself? You know you’ve done nothing good for yourself. That’s the same feeling, and you know it is, after some digital binge. You feel wasted and hollow and diminished.”

“Mae called her parents . . . and there were tears . . . and some very embarrassing talk about how Mae had become a real adult, how her parents were ashamed and humbled to be leaning on her, leaning so heavily on their young daughter in this way, it’s just this messed-up system we’re all stuck in, they said. But thank you, they said, we’re so proud of you.”

“Would you say you behave differently when you know you’re being watched?”

“My problem with paper is that all communication dies with it. It holds no possibility of continuity. You look at your paper brochure, and that’s where it ends. It ends with you.

“All of it felt like something from another time, a rightfully forgotten time, and made Mae feel that she was not only wasting her life but that this entire company was wasting life, wasting human potential and holding back the turning of the globe.”

“In a family, is a secret a good thing? Theoretically, do you ever think, You know what would be great to keep from my family? A secret.”

“We see this workplace as a community, and every person who works here is part of that community. And to make it all work it requires a certain level of participation.”