Neil Gaiman · 104 pages
Rating: (37.8K votes)
“On bad days I talk to Death constantly, not about suicide because honestly that's not dramatic enough. Most of us love the stage and suicide is definitely your last performance and being addicted to the stage, suicide was never an option - plus people get to look you over and stare at your fatty bits and you can't cross your legs to give that flattering thigh angle and that's depressing. So we talk. She says things no one else seems to come up with, like let's have a hotdog and then it's like nothing's impossible.
She told me once there is a part of her in everyone, though Neil believes I'm more Delirium than Tori, and Death taught me to accept that, you know, wear your butterflies with pride. And when I do accept that, I know Death is somewhere inside of me. She was the kind of girl all the girls wanted to be, I believe, because of her acceptance of "what is." She keeps reminding me there is change in the "what is" but change cannot be made till you accept the "what is.”
“Over the last few hours I've allowed myself to feel defeated, and just like she said if you allow yourself to feel the way you really feel, maybe you won't be afraid of that feeling anymore.”
“To be honest, I think love is complete bullshit. I don't think anyone ever loves anyone. I think the best people ever get is horny; horny and scared, so when they find someone who makes them horny, and they get too scared of the world outside, they stay together and they call it love.”
“It always ends. That's what gives it value.”
“There's this thing, they have in french: L'espirit d'escalier. The spirit of the stairway. I don't think we have a word for it in English. It means, well, the clever things to say that you only think to yourself when you're on the way out.”
“Oh - that family, yes. There are still some photos of them around here. They look like nice people, don't they?"
They...'look like nice people'?"
Well, they do, don't they? Of course, they never actually existed - except maybe in the most tenuous and retrospective way - but still, it's nice to think they were good people."
Uh. Right. Gee, I suppose you must do a lot of drugs.”
“If all I can say is I'm not in this swamp, I'm not in this swamp then there is not a rope in front of me and there is not an alligator behind me and there is not a girl sitting at the edge eating a hot dog and if I believe that, then dying would be the only answer because then Death couldn't come and say Peachy to me anymore and after all she has a brother who believes in hope.”
“In't Frans bestaat zo'n uitdrukking: l'esprit d'escalier. De geest van de trap. Volgens mij hebben wij daar niet eens echt 'n goed woord voor.
'T betekent... Nou ja, alles wat je had kunnen zeggen, maar pas bedenkt als je alweer weg bent.
Al die bijdehante dingen die je toen eigenlijk had willen zeggen.”
“This is so not fair! Can I have your boobs for just one night?” “Yeah, sure . . . let me just take them off,” I said, deadpan. “Tell me, Candi, do I look all right?” “Uh, yeah. I’d do you.” I snorted, “You’re disgusting.” “You love me.” Rolling my eyes, I walked into my bathroom and put on some perfume. “It’s true.” Just”
“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.
André Chevalier”
“I can imagine you have a lot of questions, so let me answer them by simply saying that you are here bound as you are because nothing else will do. This is how I choose for you to repay me. There will be twenty-five sessions. They will last for as long as I want them to. I will treat you like a favorite toy and break you simply because I can. In this room, you are an object, my object. You have no voice. You have no opinion. Your wants, your needs, are inconsequential to the pleasure I will reap from your pain.”
“Priority target... no way is that a good thing.”
“You will become what you think about most; your success or failure in anything, large or small, will depend on your programming—what you accept from others, and what you say when you talk to yourself. It is no longer a success theory; it is a simple, but powerful, fact. Neither luck nor desire has the slightest thing to do with it. It makes no difference whether consciously accept it or not. The brain simply believes what you tell it most. And what you tell it about you, it will create. It has no choice.”
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