Books I Like: You

my favorites from this book:

Work in a bookstore and learn that most people in this world feel guilty about being who they are.

If people could handle their self-loathing, customer service would be smoother.

Eye contact is what keeps us civilized.

The only thing crueler than a cage so small that a bird can’t fly is a cage so large that a bird thinks it can fly.

There comes a point when the universe needs to get on your side or go fuck itself and the universe gets in line.

You can tell when something is right because most things are just plain wrong.

But nothing is fair.

What a shame to be so angered by what you don’t have that you treat what you do have like it’s nothing.

Lately, when I run, it’s like Virginia Woolf is running with me. She said, “I thought how unpleasant it is to be locked out; and I thought how it is worse, perhaps, to be locked in.” She was right. It’s worse to be locked in waiting for someone who isn’t coming.

And, if there’s anything I’ve learned in almost fifty years on this planet, it’s this: If you don’t start with crazy, crazy love, the kind of love that Van Morrison sings about, then you don’t have a shot to go the distance. Love’s a marathon, Danny, not a sprint.

Figuring out what makes you happy is a journey.

The problem with books is that they end.

There is no better boost in the present than an invitation to the future.