This may be why we appear to learn absolutely nothing from experience, or may, in other words, account for our incoherence: memory does not require t… - James Baldwin

You think...that my life is shameful because my encounters are. And they are. But you should ask yourself why they are.
Why are they — shameful?
Because there is no affection in them, and no joy. It’s like putting an electric plug in a dead socket. Touch, but no contact. All touch, but no contact and no light.

There are too many things we do not wish to know about ourselves.

But it’s not possible to forget anybody you were that hung up on, who was that hung up on you. You can’t forget anything that hurt so badly, went so deep, and changed the world forever. It’s not possible to forget anybody you’ve destroyed.