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
People had been working for so many years to make the world a safe, organized place. Nobody realized how boring it would become. With the whole world property-lined and speed-limited and zoned and taxed and regulated, with everyone tested and registered and adressed and recorded. Nobody had left much room for adventure, except maybe the kind you could buy. [...] The laws that keep us safe, these same laws condemn us to boredom.
Interpretation
Societal regulations intended for safety can lead to a dull and uninspired life.
In this quote, Chuck Palahniuk reflects on the paradox of modern life where the efforts to create a safe and organized society may actually result in a mundane existence. He suggests that the numerous laws and regulations meant to protect us can stifle our sense of adventure and spontaneity, ultimately leading to a life devoid of excitement and fulfillment.
In practice
In a speech about creativity, one could cite this quote to highlight the importance of maintaining a sense of adventure.
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.
Griping 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.
If we can forgive what’s been done to us... If we can forgive what we’ve 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.
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.
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.
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.
You can’t repeat the past.” “Can’t repeat the past?” he cried incredulously. “Why of course you can!
If you truly believe in the brotherhood of man, then you must believe that blacks are just as capable of being racists as whites are.
It’s in the very trickery that it pleases me. But show me how the trick is done, and I have lost my interest therein.
People couldn't become truly holy, he said, unless they also had the opportunity to be definitively wicked.
Propositions show what they say: tautologies and contradictions show that they say nothing.
To demand 'sense' is the hallmark of nonsense. Nature does not make sense. Nothing makes sense.
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