“Is there a word that has been a pillar of support in your life?”
New essay collection by best-selling author Lee Ki-ju

Everyone needs a place to rest their mind.
Even the most inner strength, when faced with hardships too difficult to bear alone, tends to lean on someone close to them or something familiar.
Indeed, that is true.
When life shakes, what sustains our hearts are not the unfamiliar and flashy things, but the familiar and ordinary things around us.
For example, the universal words that we frequently read, write, speak, and think about in our daily lives may become the strong supports that support our lives.


Author Lee Ki-joo, who secured a wide readership with the word-of-mouth bestseller 『The Temperature of Language』 and the steady seller 『The Dignity of Words』, returns to us with a new collection of essays, 『Universal Words』.
Author Lee Ki-joo, who has previously explored the essence of life hidden in everyday life with a delicate gaze, now persistently delves into the ordinary words we use thoughtlessly, asking fundamental questions about love and hate, happiness and unhappiness, hope and regret, life and death, and more.
As we walk the path of the book, guided by the weighty questions the author has planted between the lines, we will be able to reflect anew on what words support our own lives and what kind of landscape of life they embody.

“If a person loses his heart, he may lose everything in life.
Therefore, when you feel like you're thrown into misery alone or when cluttered thoughts keep running through your head, you may need to focus on filling the cracks in your heart and organizing your daily life rather than trying to be happy like others.
“The opposite of unhappiness is not happiness, but something closer to routine.”
---From "Everyday Life, the Opposite of Misfortune"

“What does it mean to be ordinary?
Is it simply not special?
The dictionary definition of 'ordinary' is that it is ordinary, without anything outstanding or different.
It is generally used as a synonym for words like 'middle' and 'ordinary', but the moment 'life' is added to it, it transforms into a word with a social context.
“It is because the clue ‘as much as others’ follows.”
---From "The desire to live an ordinary life, like everyone else"

“As we grow up and learn about the world, we naturally encounter some important facts.
“In reality, it is not easy to live like your parents, and it is just as important to protect your foundation as it is to move on to a wider world.”
---From "Love and Hate, the Most Complex Emotions"

“Every moment we live with a different feeling.
Human moods, which change from moment to moment, are like thin window paper.
When others stab you with dirty words and actions, you are torn apart without any strength.
To recover, you need to use alone time or the affection of someone other than yourself as glue to spread it evenly over your heart, then let it dry slowly in the wind of time.”
---From "Feelings, Like Thin Paper, Easily Tearable"

“We spend our entire lives thinking about places we never reached, goals we never fully achieved.
Work is like that, dreams are like that, and even love is like that.
“It is not something that is completely realized, but something that is not yet realized that becomes the ‘skeleton of memory.’”
---From "The Limit, the Tree You Can't Climb"

“As I got older, my values ​​about interpersonal relationships changed.
This is because I often feel stressed because of unnecessary relationships or expend unnecessary emotions trying to maintain relationships.
It was from this time that the idea that there was no need to unconditionally expand my network began to sprout.
Around this time, I often thought:
“I think the most important thing in forming and maintaining relationships with others is ‘self-respect.’”
---From "Friend, there is no need to expand your network unconditionally"

“Powerlessness may seem like lethargy or laziness at first glance, but it is actually closer to frustration or defeat.
To escape the swamp of helplessness, we must first awaken our sense of self-efficacy, which is the belief that we have the ability to perform certain tasks.”
---From "Not powerlessness or laziness, but closer to frustration"

“Love is more like a constant ups and downs caused by the subtle weight of emotions.
“It’s like riding a seesaw.”
---From "Balance, Maybe Love Is a Seesaw"

“The expression “it’s okay” that we use every time we say hello has various hidden meanings.
People often say they are okay when they are not.
Even though it is a situation that would be worrisome to anyone, they just keep saying that it is okay.
By saying that you can grit your teeth and endure even when it's hard, you push your emotions out of your consciousness.
“Perhaps they hide their true feelings because they don’t want to burden the other person.”
---From "Sometimes I Want to Hide Behind the Words 'It's Okay'"

"So when does jealousy surface? Most people are more likely to feel jealous of someone occupying a similar but slightly larger chair than they are of someone sitting in a chair that is absurdly larger than their own.
Moreover, arrows of jealousy are often aimed at people we were once close to, rather than people we have no relationship with.
The longer you know someone, the sharper the arrowhead becomes.
“That is the nature of jealousy.”
---From "Jealousy, I pretend not to be jealous in front of others"

“A person who habitually points out the other person’s faults the moment they discover them is neither a good speaker nor a person who doesn’t have any lingering feelings.
They are people who are not good at speaking and who lack self-understanding.
In short, he is a person who does not know himself well.”
---From "People who strive to destroy the lives of others"

“Sometimes the people and events that cause us the greatest pain end up giving us the greatest insight and discernment.
Of course, you only realize this after a long time has passed.”
---From "Waves, the ceaselessly flowing river of time"

“We are living in an era where uncertainty is more prevalent than ever before.
In times like these, when we don't know what the future holds, enduring the present with the belief that things will get better means more than just waiting.
In a way, enduring the present means building up your body and mind while preparing for the future.”
---From "Building, the work of caring for and looking after oneself"

“Humans are still helpless in the face of death.
Not only that, but they are also ignorant.
Death is vaguely accepted as a process in which everything disappears or the soul and body are separated.
We don't know what lies beyond death.
If you don't know, you're afraid.
Fear blossoms from ignorance.
Perhaps we exchange love with someone other than ourselves in order to shake off even a little of the loneliness and fear that comes with death.”

---From "Death, a Being Trapped in Finite Time"