“Only through destroying myself can I discover the greater power of my spirit.”
Power
“If I could wake up in a different place, at a different time, could I wake up as a different person?”
TimeAll Quotes by Chuck Palahniuk
“You hear the best stories from ordinary people. That sense of immediacy is more real to me than a lot of writerly, literary-type crafted stories. I want that immediacy when I read a novel.”
Best“Do you remember when you were 10 or 11 years old and you really thought your folks were the best? They were completely omniscient and you took their word for everything. And then you got older and you went through this hideous age when suddenly they were the devil, they were bullies, and they didn't know anything.”
Age“The most boring scenes are the scenes where a character is alone.”
Alone“My goal is more to be remembered. They'll remember this thing and like it in the future. The trick is to stay remembered long enough for that to happen.”
Future“Personal identity seems like it's just such an American archetype, from Holly Golightly re-inventing herself in 'Breakfast At Tiffany's' to Jay Gatsby in 'The Great Gatsby.' It seems like the sort of archetypal American issue. If you're given the freedom to be anything, or be anyone, what do you do with it?”
Freedom“I used to work in a funeral home to feel good about myself, just the fact that I was breathing.”
Good“I have a lot of money.”
Money“I really love idiot, enlightened characters - these characters who fail to engage with the drama of their immediate circumstances they fail to be reactive and enrolled by drama as it happens around them.”
Love“If death meant just leaving the stage long enough to change costume and come back as a new character, would you slow down? Or speed up?”
Change“Why is it you feel like a dope if you laugh alone, but that's usually how you end up crying?”
Alone“If you start in the pit of despair with these profane, awful things, even a glimmer of hope or awareness is going to occur that's much brighter coming from this dark, awful beginning.”
Hope“Game shows are designed to make us feel better about the random, useless facts that are all we have left of our education.”
Education“I think in a way, you're doomed, once you can envision something. You're sort of doomed to make it happen. I've found that the moment I can envision leaving a relationship, that's usually the moment that the relationship starts to fall apart.”
Relationship“I believe in something. But I don't believe that anything can hold a grudge for long enough to condemn its creation to eternal punishment. Nobody can hold a grudge that long, even God.”
God“It's funny how you never think about the women you've had. It's always the ones who get away that you can't forget.”
Funny“I wanted to write about the moment when your addictions no longer hide the truth from you. When your whole life breaks down. That's the moment when you have to somehow choose what your life is going to be about.”
Life“All God does is watch us and kill us when we get boring. We must never, ever be boring.”
God“The only way to find true happiness is to risk being completely cut open.”
Happiness“People used what they called a telephone because they hated being close together and they were scared of being alone.”
Alone