There's an old saying: 'No piece of writing is ever finished, it's just abandoned.' But my own rule is: No piece of work is done until you want to kill everyone involved in the publishing process, especially yourself.
Chuck PalahniukRead
Don't do what you want. Do what you don't want. Do what you're trained not to want. Do the things that scare you the most.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of facing your fears and challenging your comfort zone.
In this quote, Chuck Palahniuk urges individuals to confront their fears and undertake actions that are often avoided due to discomfort or societal conditioning. By suggesting that one should engage in what they are trained to reject, he highlights the transformative power of embracing challenges that push personal boundaries and foster growth. This perspective encourages people to seek out the uncomfortable and unknown, which can lead to profound personal development.
Themes
FearCourageChallengeGrowthDiscomfort
In practice
Example use cases
Using the quote as a motivational reminder before a public speaking engagement.
More from Chuck Palahniuk
All quotes βGriping isn't the same as creating something. Rebelling isn't rebuilding. Ridiculing isn't replacing. We've taken the world apart but we have no idea what to do with the pieces.
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If we can forgive whatβs been done to us... If we can forgive what weβve done to others... If we can leave all of our stories behind. Our being villains or victims. Only then can we maybe rescue the world.
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We're all trapped. It's always 1734. All of us, we're stuck in the same time capsule, the same as those television shows where the same people are marooned on the same desert island for thirty seasons and never age or escape. They just wear more makeup. In a creepy way, those shows are maybe too authentic.
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One thing I really envy about my friends who have kids is that as their children develop, they're able to revisit their own developmental stages and recognise themselves and undo a lot of things they decided.
Chuck PalahniukRead
If you knew that your life was merely a phase or short, short segment of your entire existence, how would you live? Knowing nothing 'real' was at risk, what would you do? You'd live a gigantic, bold, fun, dazzling life. You know you would. That's what the ghosts want us to do - all the exciting things they no longer can.
Chuck PalahniukRead
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Jump off. You are a protected individual. Do not fear.
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We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men β not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend causes that were, for the moment, unpopular.
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You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down.
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We speak here of the challenge of the dichotomies of war and peace, violence and non-violence, racism and human dignity, oppression and repression and liberty and human rights, poverty and freedom from want.
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