If for instance the sentiment possessing for the moment the empire of our mind is sorrow, will not the genius sharpen the sorrow and the sorrow purify the genius? Together, will they not be like a cut diamond for which language is only the wax on whi...
Must be frustrating being a scientist. There you are, incrementally discovering how the universe works via a series of complex tests and experiments, for the benefit of all mankind - and what thanks do you get? People call you "egghead" or "boffin" o...
I was drawn to all the wrong things: I liked to drink, I was lazy, I didn’t have a god, politics, ideas, ideals. I was settled into nothingness; a kind of non-being, and I accepted it. I didn’t make for an interesting person. I didn’t want to b...
How I hated myself, thwarted, poisoned and tortured myself, made myself old and ugly. Never again, as I once fondly imagined, will I consider that Siddartha is clever. But one thing I have done well, which pleases me, which I must praise- I have now ...
Freud wrote that love involves the undervaluation of reality and the overvaluation of the desired object. While the correct valuation of a person is an odd, if not impossible idea, we might say Freud meant something like this: for various reasons, ma...
Before the magisterial mess of Trevor Thomas's house, the orderly houses that most of us live in seem meagre and lifeless -- as, in the same way, the narratives called biographies pale and shrink in the face of the disorderly actuality that is a life...
...“Maybe it’s like this, Max--you know how, when you are working on a long and ordered piece, all sorts of bright and lovely ideas and images intrude. They have no place in what you are writing, and so if you are young, you write them in a noteb...
[Women's magazines]ignore older women or pretend that they don’t exist; magazines try to avoid photographs of older women, and when they feature celebrities who are over sixty, ‘retouching artists’ conspire to ‘help’ beautiful women look mo...
Baker: Here, this is for you. You did a good job for me. Worth five hundred dollars, [hands over a purse] Angel Eyes: Oh I almost forgot. He gave me a thousand. I think his idea was that I kill you. [they both laugh] Angel Eyes: But you know the pity...
Major Dieter Hellstrom: [Hellstrom is trying to guess the famous person on his forehead, which is King Kong] [in German; subtitled] Major Dieter Hellstrom: I'll start, give you the idea. Am I German? Bridget von Hammersmark: [in German] No. Major Die...
Dave Lizewski: Even with my metal plates and my fucked up nerve endings, I gotta tell you, that hurt! But not half as much as the idea of leaving everything behind. Katie, my dad, Todd and Marty... and all the things I'd never do. Like learn to drive...
Mrs. Pell: It's not good for you to be here. Agent Anderson: Why? Mrs. Pell: It's ugly. This whole thing is so ugly. Have you any idea what it's like to live with all this? People look at us and only see bigots and racists. Hatred isn't something you...
Sulley: [Sulley and Mike have just been banished to the Himalayas on Earth - Sulley opens the door to find nothing beyond it] BOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Sulley: [Opens and closes door, pushes frame, nothing happens] No, no! No, no, no, no, NO! Mike: It's too la...
[Calvera has just captured the Seven] Calvera: What I don't understand is why a man like you took the job in the first place, hmm? Why, huh? Chris: I wonder myself. Calvera: No, come on, come on, tell me why. Vin: It's like a fellow I once knew in El...
Mayor: Have I told you that I was acquainted with your father, Captain? Capitán Vidal: No. I had no idea. Mayor: In Morocco. I knew him only briefly, but he left a great impression. Capitán Vidal: An excellent soldier. Mayor: The men in his battali...
Della Bea Robinson: The only thing that can help you is God, Ray! Ray Charles: Don't you talk about God! You have any idea how it feels to go blind and still be afraid of the dark? And every day, you stand and pray just for a little light, and you do...
[discussing the Doomsday machine] President Merkin Muffley: How is it possible for this thing to be triggered automatically and at the same time impossible to untrigger? Dr. Strangelove: Mr. President, it is not only possible, it is essential. That i...
Tiffany: You know what, forget I offered to help you. Forget the entire fucking idea, because that must have been fucking crazy, because I'm so much CRAZIER than you! Pat: [Indifferent] Keep your voice down. Tiffany: I'm just the crazy slut with a de...
Xerxes: But I am a generous god. I can make you rich beyond all measure. I will make you warlord of all Greece. You will carry my battle standard to the heart of Europa. Your Athenian rivals will kneel at your feet if you will but kneel at mine. King...
[Alvy is asked to try cocaine] Alvy Singer: I don't want to put a wad of white powder in my nose. There's the nasal membrane... Annie Hall: You never want to try anything new, Alvy. Alvy Singer: How can you say that? Whose idea was it? I said that yo...
Mortimer Brewster: [on the telephone] Yes, operator, I'd like the Happy Dale Sanatorium, Happy Dale, New York. Come on, operator, what's taking so long? They're just across the river. I could swim it faster! No, I don't want the Happy Dale Laundry. I...
