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?
There are two good rules which ought to be written on every heart - never to believe anything bad about anybody unless you positively know it to be true; never to tell even that unless you feel that it is absolutely necessary, and that God is listening.
A misery is not to be measure from the nature of the evil but from the temper of the sufferer.
There you go, Harry!” Ron shouted over the noise. “You weren’t being thick after all — you were showing moral fiber!
The Buddha compared anger with picking up hot coals with one's bare hands and trying to throw them at the person with whom one is angry. Who gets burned first? The one who is angry of course.
Shame is the most powerful, master emotion. It's the fear that we're not good enough.
A sure sign of ineptitude and malice is manifested when one's attacker is willing to cover himself with mud in order to try and make some of it adhere to his target.
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