The gyms you go to are crowded with guys trying to look like men, as if being a man means looking the way a sculptor or an art director says.
Chuck PalahniukA minute of perfection was worth the effort. A moment was the most you could ever expect from perfection.
Chuck PalahniukBooks can create a depth of story, a background of information and ideas, that televison and movies can't. Sure, the television shows may shock, but only on a superficial level. They'd never risk market share to really explore the issues. They report, but don't analyze or suggest any new ways for living our lives.
Chuck PalahniukWe can spend our lives letting the world tell us who we are. Sane or insane. Saints or sex addicts. Heroes or victims. Letting history tell us how good or bad we are. Letting our past decide our future. Or we can decide for ourselves. And maybe it's our job to invent something better.
Chuck PalahniukIf death meant just leaving the stage long enough to change costume and come back as a new character, would you slow down? Or speed up?
Chuck PalahniukI realized that my book readings were boring me. I was going to go up there and read a passage and sleepwalk through the whole event and I needed to make it more interesting. I wanted to be running and jumping and do something so that the event would be so exciting. I had to trick myself into having fun every time.
Chuck Palahniuk