A good story isn't the one that shuts everyone down and sort of leaves them in silent awe. A good story is one that, even before you finish the anecdote, you can see their eyes shining because it has so resonated with something from their own lives that everyone in the group has a version of the same story and they cannot wait to tell it, and that they're going to compete to make their version even more extreme than your version. So your version is just a seed.

When you're an addict, you can go without feeling anything except drunk or stoned or hungry. Still, when you compare this to other feelings, to sadness, anger, fear, worry, despair, and depression, well, an addiction no longer looks so bad. It looks like a very viable option.

There's no escaping fate, it just keeps going. Day and night, the future just keeps coming at you.

I want my whole life lined with a topical anesthetic.

First your parents, they give you your life, but then they try to give you their life.

You're safe because you're so trapped inside your culture. Anything you can conceive of is fine because you can conceive of it.

You only ask people about themselves so you can tell them about yourself.