I can normally tell how intelligent a man is by how stupid he thinks I am.
Cormac McCarthy, All the Pretty Horses
It’s possible for one never to transgress a single law and still be a bastard. And vice versa.
Hermann Hesse, Demian
It’s possible to commit no mistakes and still lose.
Jean-Luc Picard, some nerdy tv show
The purpose of a rose is to be a rose. Your purpose is to be yourself. You don’t have to run anywhere to become someone else. You are wonderful just as you are.
Thich Nhat Hanh
You’re a legend.
David (some classmate I had last semester who’d always say this to the professor. He’s an example of what I call a “cinnamon roll.” He got really excited talking about Mario one time and then apologized for seeming “too happy.” I miss him, and I find myself saying this a lot now. Shine on, David, you crazy legend. If you know any such cinnamon rolls, I’d love to hear about them – please tell me about them in my guestbook.)
If you need any purpose at all to make art, here it is: because it might bring you joy.
Newt, Art is not a talent, and you should make art
If you don’t find farts funny, you are choosing to live in a world with less joy, and the same amount of farts.
random person on the internet
There’s a lot to unpack here, but maybe we should just go ahead and burn the whole briefcase.
Tea (I’m aware she was probably just quoting something she read online but, when she said this in senior year health class, I laughed so hard I cried, and had to write it down. Thank you Tea)
Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.
Mary Schmich, Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young
Find out who you are, then do it on purpose.
Dolly Parton
At a bottomless brunch but I got an ass
Jazz Emu, “Schneeky Phase”
Where the myth fails, human love begins. Then we love a human being, not our dream, but a human being with flaws.
Anaïs Nin
If he’s going to be a jerk to me, then he can find his own way to the bowling alley.
some Disney-obsessed girl I went to high school with. (What happened was, me and my boyfriend were walking through town and I saw an old acquaintance walking across the street. I waved and said hello, and she crossed the street to talk to me. I prepped myself for some awkward small talk and was ready to introduce her to my partner, but as soon as I asked “how are you,” she immediately started talking to me about how tired she is of her boyfriend and how she’s ready to dump him once and for all. She hit me with a deluge of complaints, and I was almost breathless. I just nodded and kept saying, “Yeah, sounds bad, sounds like your heart’s not in it, you don’t need him,” but she just kept going and going, even though my boyfriend, a complete stranger to her, was standing right there, listening to all of this for several minutes It culminated in her saying she was going to go to a party at the bowling alley tomorrow, but she’s not going to give him a ride. “If he’s going to be a jerk to me, I’ll be one back. He can find his own way to the bowling alley.” She said it multiple times. Then, we simmered in an awkward moment of silence. Finally, I introduced her to my boyfriend, and I said we had to get going. We held in our laughter until we had walked another block. Also, she has a Brooklyn accent, so she pronounced it “joik.” 09/11/22)
Mae West: For a long time, I was ashamed of the way I lived. Man: You mean to say you’ve reformed? Mae West: No. I got over being ashamed.