To be famous is to be stuck in an inflexible place. But at least it is to be stuck with money.
Spalding GrayAnd just as I was climbing into that first-class seat, and wrapping myself in a blanket, just as I was adjusting my pillow behind my head, and having a sip of that champagne, and just as I was bringing down and adjusting my Thai purple sleep mask, I had an inkling. I had a flash. I suddenly thought I knew what it was that had killed Marilyn Monroe.
Spalding GrayWhen I was in therapy about two years ago, one day I noticed that I hadn't had any children. And I like children at a distance. I wondered if I'd like them up close. I wondered why I didn't have any. I wondered if it was a mistake, or if I'd done it on purpose, or what. And I noticed my therapist didn't have any children either. He had pictures of his cats on the wall. Framed.
Spalding GraySkiing is better than sex actually, because for me a good round of sex might be seven minutes. Skiing you can do for seven hours.
Spalding GrayReal life has always let me down. That's why I do the monologues. I have always said I would rather tell a life than live a life. But I have to live a life in order to tell one.
Spalding GrayI was darkly convinced that at age 52 I would kill myself because my mother committed suicide at that age. I was fantasizing that she was waiting for me on the other side of the grave.
Spalding GrayI'm kind of this control freak that likes to create his own hells before the real one can get to him
Spalding GrayThe fact that New York continues in the face of all of the chaos, of the crime, of the madness, you just think that it would just pop and vanish, just explode.
Spalding GrayHe won't fly on the Balinese airline, Garuda, because he won't fly on any airline where the pilots believe in reincarnation.
Spalding GrayI refer to jet lag as 'jet-psychosis - there's an old saying that the spirit cannot move faster than a camel.
Spalding GrayI see [my pen] as an extension of my musculature. It's like being a painter. It's the closest I can get to my breath.
Spalding GrayI fantasize about going back to high school with the knowledge I have now. I would shine. I would have a good time, I would have a girlfriend. I think that's where a lot of my pain comes from. I think I never had any teenage years to go back to.
Spalding GrayI consulted a therapist at Mass. General. After about 20 minutes, he stopped me and said, 'You're just a big existential garbage pail. Go home and relax.'
Spalding Gray