thoughts detained

"Our individuality is all, all, that we have. There are those who barter it for security, those who..."

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:47:51 -0800

“Our individuality is all, all, that we have. There are those who barter it for security, those who repress it for what they believe is the betterment of the whole society, but blessed in the twinkle of the morning star is the one who nurtures it and rides it in, in grace and love and wit, from peculiar station to peculiar station along life’s bittersweet route.”

- Tom Robbins, Jitterbug Perfume

"Really big people are, above everything else, courteous, considerate and generous - not just to some..."

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:46:04 -0800

“Really big people are, above everything else, courteous, considerate and generous - not just to some people in some circumstances - but to everyone all the time.”

- Thomas J. Watson, Sr

"I wanted to be one of those people who have streaks to maintain, who scorch the ground with their..."

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:44:52 -0800

“I wanted to be one of those people who have streaks to maintain, who scorch the ground with their intensity. But for now, at least I knew such people, and they needed me, just like comets need tails.”

- John Green, Looking for Alaska

"It’s better to send in the Peace Corps than the Marine Corps."

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:44:00 -0800

“It’s better to send in the Peace Corps than the Marine Corps.”

- Ted Kennedy

"When humor goes, there goes civilization."

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:43:52 -0800

“When humor goes, there goes civilization.”

- Erma Bombeck

"I start to feel like I can’t maintain the facade any longer, that I may just start to show through...."

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:43:49 -0800

“I start to feel like I can’t maintain the facade any longer, that I may just start to show through. And I wish I knew what was wrong. Maybe something about how stupid my whole life is. I don’t know. Why does the rest of the world put up with the hypocrisy, the need to put a happy face on sorrow, the need to keep on keeping on?… I don’t know the answer, I know only that I can’t. I don’t want any more vicissitudes, I don’t want any more of this try, try again stuff. I just want out. I’ve had it. I am so tired. I am twenty and I am already exhausted.”

- Elizabeth Wurtzel

"Sometimes I think candor is the only kindness."

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:43:52 -0800

“Sometimes I think candor is the only kindness.”

- Karen Allen, Malcolm X

"It’s funny how people use that phrase, life and death, as if life is the opposite of death. Birth is..."

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:02:09 -0800

“It’s funny how people use that phrase, life and death, as if life is the opposite of death. Birth is the opposite of death. Life…has no opposite.”

- James Van Der Beek, Dawson’s Creek

"We’re all wounded. We carry our wounds around with us through life and eventually they kill..."

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 09:02:00 -0800

“We’re all wounded. We carry our wounds around with us through life and eventually they kill us. Things happen that leave a mark in space, in time. In us.”

- Rachel Griffiths, Six Feet Under

"I wept at various pitches and velocities, using my wail to describe a devastating unhappiness that..."

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:07:46 -0800

“I wept at various pitches and velocities, using my wail to describe a devastating unhappiness that surprised us all. After the session, my three people hugged me, and within their tangle, I felt safe.”

- Miranda July, How to Tell Stories to Children from the collection No One Belongs Here More Than You

"It’s not war that’s insane, you see. It’s the morality of it. It’s not greed..."

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:01:26 -0800

“It’s not war that’s insane, you see. It’s the morality of it. It’s not greed or ambition that makes war: it’s goodness. Wars are always fought for the best of reasons - for liberation or manifest destiny. Always against tyranny and always in the interest of humanity. So far this war, we’ve managed to butcher some ten million humans in the interest of humanity. Next war it seems we’ll have to destroy all of man in order to preserve his damn dignity. It’s not war that’s unnatural to us, it’s virtue. As long as valor remains a virtue, we shall have soldiers. So, I preach cowardice. Through cowardice, we shall all be saved.”

- James Garner, The Americanization of Emily

"I wish that just once people wouldn’t act like the clichés that they are."

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:00:09 -0800

“I wish that just once people wouldn’t act like the clichés that they are.”

- Lauren Ambrose, Six Feet Under

"It was over. I was never going to get her back. It was time for a little self-respect. It was time..."

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:58:50 -0800

“It was over. I was never going to get her back. It was time for a little self-respect. It was time to let go. Time to move on.”

- Daniel Stern, The Wonder Years

"Life is not so much about beginnings and endings as it is about going on and on and on. It is about..."

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:57:53 -0800

“Life is not so much about beginnings and endings as it is about going on and on and on. It is about muddling through the middle.”

- Anna Quindlen

"There is clearly much left to be done, and whatever else we are going to do, we had better get on..."

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:57:52 -0800

“There is clearly much left to be done, and whatever else we are going to do, we had better get on with it.”

- Rosalynn Carter

"People shop for a bathing suit with more care than they do a husband or wife. The rules are the..."

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:57:50 -0800

“People shop for a bathing suit with more care than they do a husband or wife. The rules are the same. Look for something you’ll feel comfortable wearing. Allow for room to grow.”

- Erma Bombeck

"A hundredth of a second here, a hundredth of a second there - even if you put them end to end, they..."

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:56:48 -0800

“A hundredth of a second here, a hundredth of a second there - even if you put them end to end, they still only add up to one, two, perhaps three seconds, snatched from eternity.”

- Robert Doisneau

"A human being can survive almost anything, as long as she sees the end in sight. But depression is..."

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:07:47 -0800

“A human being can survive almost anything, as long as she sees the end in sight. But depression is so insidious, and it compounds daily, that it’s impossible to ever see the end. The fog is like a cage without a key.”

- Elizabeth Wurtzel

"She was terrific to hold hands with. Most girls, if you hold hands with them, their goddam hand dies..."

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:07:09 -0800

“She was terrific to hold hands with. Most girls, if you hold hands with them, their goddam hand dies on you, or else they think they have to keep moving their hands all the time, as if they were afraid they’d bore you or something. Jane was different. We’d get into a goddam movie or something, and right away we’d start holding hands, and we won’t quite till the movie was over. And without changing the position or making a deal out of it. You never even worried, with Jane, whether your hand was sweaty or not. All you knew was, you were happy. You really were.”

- J.D Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

"Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. ‘Pooh!’ he whispered. ‘Yes, Piglet?’..."

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:03:26 -0800

“Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. ‘Pooh!’ he whispered. ‘Yes, Piglet?’ ‘Nothing,’ said Piglet, taking Pooh’s paw. ‘I just wanted to be sure of you.’”

- A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh