"the word is not the thing"

Hannibal - The teacup broken scene

We didn’t get to choose the childhood we were given, but we can choose what to do with the memories of our childhood.

The mother gazes at the baby in her arms, and the baby gazes at her face and finds themselves therein... provided that the mother is really looking at the unique, small, helpless being and not projecting her own expectations, fears, and plans for the child.

Voight-Kampff is a test – designed by humans – to determine whether a subject is able to experience human emotional responses. It is a kind of machine-aided examination of emotional maturity.

The examiner walks through scenarios, asking the subject to place themselves in the role of actor and to respond to set questions. Reaction time, capillary dilation, and the presence of invisible, airborne particles are all measured. By this method, the Voight-Kampff examiner seeks to interrogate whether the subject’s response represents a “human” reaction to a given situation.

To "give pointers" means to give someone little bits of advice. You're not holding that quite right. Do you want me to give you a few pointers?

01) You’ll stop living some day.
02) Everyone around you is going to die.
03) Money doesn’t make you happy.
04) Searching for happiness prevents you from finding it.
05) Spending money is less effective than spending time.
06) Making everyone happy is for the birds.
07) Trying to be perfect will kill you.
08) Feelings are important, but not everything.
09) You are responsible for yourself.
10) Nothing matters when you are gone.
11) Talent goes to waste if you let it.
12) Now is all that matters.
13) Stop complaining: no one cares how hard your life is.
14) Share your wisdom with people.
15) Invest in yourself or lose out on life.
16) Reactions are all that matters when things go bad.
17) Have better relationships.
18) Look for the deeper meaning.
19) Ambition is useless, do the work.
20) Time is the most precious thing in your life.

 Don’t outsource your self-esteem to others.

It’s hard enough for them to manage their own, let alone yours.

Say no, to things you don’t want to do.
Else, you are just working out the terms of your slavery.

Freedom is something you can have right this second.
The prison door is open. But if you don’t leave, then this moment is in chains forever.

Never listen to anyone who says “you can’t do that!”
Those are the people who can’t do it.

Laugh at the little things.
So you can learn to laugh at everything else.

Preparation is the key to having good luck.
People will spitefully accuse you of “luck”. They will resent it. Try to ignore them.

Kindness to others is the best way to be kind to yourself.

Familiarize yourself with the various types of vampires.

Psychic vampires come in a variety of forms. Relationships that drain our energy can manifest in a variety of personality types. Recognize the various forms Psychic vampires can take.

• Narcissistic vampires have grandiose senses of self importance and entitlement. They tend to lack empathy and become withholding or cold if you don't do things their way. This is because they have little to no capacity for unconditional love.
• Victim vampires tend to see the world through the lens of "poor me." They believe the world is inherently against them and to blame for their unhappiness. They tend to drain energy by constantly complaining about problems but refusing to try any potential solutions you suggest. Alternatively, they may act as a martyr, claiming that they do things for others but are never appreciated.
• Controlling energy vampires have a need to control and manipulate your actions. They often invalidate your emotions in order to dominate you or put you down.
• Constant talking vampires take over conversations by constantly sharing their own feelings and experiences without giving you an opportunity to contribute. They might also invade physical boundaries, moving in so close you can feel their breath on you. 
• Drama queen vampires drain energy by exaggerating small instances. Being late for a meeting is the end of the world, and they convey small matters in a way that over-inflates their own importance, for better or worse.
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