It's not all bad. Heightened self-consciousness, apartness, an inability to join in, physical shame and self-loathingโthey are not all bad. Those devils have been my angels. Without them I would never have disappeared into language, literature, the mind, laughter and all the mad intensities that made and unmade me.
Stephen FryFirst love is unrequited ultimately because itโs so huge.Itโs such an act of giving and it requires so much back that it can never be given back. Itโs like an atom bomb. Itโs likeโฆ Itโs all the energy of who you are and who you want to be and what you love and what you hope to be explodes. It is impossible for a single... human being to offer that back to you in a mutual way.
Stephen FryA month's salary, deep regret, the telephone number of some foul rehab clinic and my lance was free.
Stephen FryMind you, Mount Rushmore isn't exactly the Parthenon or the Sistine Chapel either. After the naรฏve daftness of the Crazy Horse monument, I find the pompous idiocy of those four presidents somehow more risible still. Wishing to show respect or feel a vicarious thrill of admiration and pride, I can only giggle. For which I am very sorry. Any loyal American reading this who feels outraged and insulted is free to explode with derisive snorts of laughter at any British equivalent.
Stephen Fry