Come on, say it again. I'm a perfect devil. Tell me how bad I am. It makes me feel so good!
Interpretation
Embracing one's flaws can lead to a sense of empowerment.
In this quote, Anne Rice explores the idea that acknowledging and even reveling in one's imperfections can provide a strange sense of satisfaction and strength. The act of being told one is 'bad' or flawed can paradoxically boost one's self-esteem, suggesting that the acceptance of our darker sides can lead to personal empowerment.
In practice
In a motivational speech about self-acceptance.
From my stone pillow I have dreamed dreams of the mortal world above. I have heard its voices, its new music, as lullabies as I lie in my grave. I have envisioned its fantastical discoveries. I have known its courage in the timeless sanctum of my thoughts. And though it shuts me out with its dazzling forms, I long for one with the strength to roam it fearlessly, to ride the Devil's Road through its heart.
We all suffer under a curse, the curse that we know more than we can endure, and there is nothing, absolutely nothing we can do about the force and the lure of this knowledge.
And so this young one, this young one whom I had so loved, I had to forsake, no matter how broken my heart, no matter how lonely my soul, no matter how bruised my intellect and spirit.
Dear God, help me. Do not forget me on this tiny cinder lost in a galaxy that is lost–a heart no bigger than a speck of dust beating, beating against death, against meaninglessness, against guilt, against sorrow.
The vampires have always been metaphors for me. They've always been vehicles through which I can express things I have felt very, very deeply.
In the very depths of Hell, do not demons love one another?
When the founders wrote about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, they didn't mean longer vacations and more comfortable hammocks. They meant the pursuit of learning. The pursuit of improvement and excellence. In hard work is happiness.
That's the secret: be interesting. If you can't be interesting, shut up. There's nothing wrong with silence.
Call on your Lord when your heart is brittle, that is a time when it's in pieces and the Light of Allah can fill the gaps. That is why Allāh is with the broken hearted.
All writers learn this, in time: don't show your work to other people until it's safely finished. Even discussing your unborn book in quite general terms can be such an undermining experience that, afterwards, you give it up and go to live in Guatemala.
Oop! The Moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever.
Curiosity is the lust of the mind.
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