When we fail to live up to our ideals, for instance, we might begin to wonder who we are - most people are aware of a discrepancy, I think. There are idiosyncrasies and foibles, but we're not sure if these are essential. Some people think they are the most essential things of all.
Quentin S. Crisp[My muse] feels nostalgic for Japan, and, perhaps strangely, for the pioneer days of America.
Quentin S. CrispIf we do want to do that [ colonise space to survive, ], then vacuous materialism is not going to be enough for us.
Quentin S. CrispI went on a meditation retreat. In 10 or so days, I spent about a hundred hours meditating, observing 'noble silence' the whole time, and so on. This was an interesting experience, which has had some beneficial effects for me.
Quentin S. CrispI think I'm probably too close to the seventies to be able to analyse them (it?) effectively.
Quentin S. CrispI feel almost as if I had been born in a vacuum of innocence, and then had to come to terms with the fact that actually, I was born into the middle of history - the rather grimy normality of the 70s, which did, indeed, retain some traces of human innocence, but were also girded about by the demons of experience.
Quentin S. Crisp