although science could pinpoint the exact spot in the brain that ignites rage, they had yet to identify the location that produces love.
Erich SegalPart of being a big winner is the ability to be a big loser. There is no paradox involved. It is a distinctly Harvard thing to be able to turn any defeat into victory
Erich SegalTrue love comes quietly, without banners or flashing lights. If you hear bells, get your ears checked.
Erich SegalSometimes I ask myself what would I be if Jenny were alive. And then I answer : I would also be alive." - Oliver.
Erich SegalThe pain of not knowing what to do was exceeded only by that of knowing what I had done.
Erich SegalI think the Peace Corps is a fine thing, don't you?" he said. "Well," I replied, "it's certainly better than War Corps.
Erich SegalQuiet heroism or youthful idealism, or both? What do we know? That life without heroism and idealism is not worth living - or that either can be fatal?
Erich SegalBut what does he do to qualify as a sonovabitch?โ Jenny asked. โMake meโ, I replied. โBeg pardon?โ โMake meโ, I repeated. Her eyes widened like saucers. โYou mean like incest?โ she asked. โDonโt give me your family problems, Jen. I have enough of my own.โ โLike what, Oliver?โ she asked, โlike just what is it he makes you do?โ โThe โright thingsโโ, I said. โWhatโs wrong with the โright thingsโ?โ she asked, delighting in the apparent paradox.
Erich SegalWhat can you say about a twenty-five year old girl who died? That she was beautiful and brilliant. That she loved Mozart and Bach. The Beatles. And me.
Erich SegalI was afraid of being rejected, yes. I was also afraid of being accepted for the wrong reasons.
Erich SegalHer handwriting was curious ย small sharp little letters with no capitals (who did she think she was, e. e. cummings?).
Erich SegalThe explanations for the things we do in life are many and complex. Supposedly mature adults should live by logic, listen to their reason. Think things out before they act. But maybe they never heard what Dr. London told me one, Freud said that for the little things in life we should react according to our reason. But for really big decisions, we should heed what our unconscious tells us.
Erich SegalJenny, if you're so conยญvinced I'm a loser, why did you bullยญdoze me into buyยญing you cofยญfee?' She looked me straight in the eye and smiled. 'I like your body,' she said.
Erich SegalWe have turned doctors into gods and worship their deity by offering up our bodies and our souls - not to mention our worldly goods. And yet paradoxically, they are the most vulnerable of human beings. Their suicide rate is eight times the national average. Their percentage of drug addiction is one hundred times higher And because they are painfully aware that they cannot live up to our expectations, their anguish is unquantifiably intense. They have aptly been called 'wounded healers.' " ~ Barney Livingston, M.D. (Doctors, 1989)
Erich SegalThe โequilibriumโ that people see in me is really an illusion. I am as flawed as anyone. Itโs only that I seem to have the knack of hiding.
Erich Segal