Artists use lies to tell the truth. Yes, I created a lie. But because you believed it, you found something true about yourself.

This is an IMAGINARY STORY...aren't they all?

Who imprisoned me here? Who keeps me here? Who can release me? Who's controlling and constraining my life except...me?

Look at him now, poor fellow. That's what a dose of reality does for you...Never touch the stuff myself, you understand. Find it gets in the way of the hallucinations.

Does the human heart know chasms so abysmal?

If you look at that incredible burst of fantastic characters that emerged in the late 19th century/early 20th century, you can see so many of the fears and hopes of those times embedded in those characters. Even in throwaway bits of contemporary culture you can often find some penetrating insights into the real world around us.

I really can't be bothered going to a barber. And shaving every morning, that's nightmarish. I spent my teenage years covered in tiny little bits of toilet paper.