words of wisdom

I dunno, now that I'm out of work and soon to be out of an apartment, my life seems a little disconnected right now.
(deep breath)
I've actually considered just chucking all my crap into storage, taking off on the open road, and going from state to state around the US, trying to figure out what it is I'm supposed to do. I guess, to make things a little more productive, I could take along a webcam of some sort and make it a video blog...
Maybe...

In any case, while clearing out a ton of old papers and whatnot (HOW do I still have old papers??? I only moved in six months ago!!), I came across the list of favorite quotes from books. I forgot that I used to do this when I was in high school (note, my obsession with books obviously manifested itself early on). Rather than keep a notebook with only a couple of lonely pages filled in, I'm going to list this random collection of quotes here for all to enjoy!

Why don't you take a flying fuck at a rolling doughnut? Why don't you take a flying fuck at the moooooooooooon? - Slapstick, Kurt Vonnegut (winner for best insult; and, yes, I remember counting the number of "o"s in "moon")

Words do not express thoughts very well; everything immediately becomes a little different, a little distorted, a little foolish. And yet it pleases me and seems right that what is of value and wisdom to one man seems nonsense to another. - Journey to the East, Hermann Hesse (the quote was spoken by Siddhartha...gotta dig that crazy cat!)

The children thought that Uncle Jimbilly had got over his slavery very well. Since they had known him, he had never done a single thing that anyone told him to do. - The Old Order, Katherine Anne Porter (FYI: Porter is my FAVORITE Southern author, even more that Tennessee Williams, and scads more than Faulkner. See, she actually had a sense of humor, which makes her immensely more talented than those depressing tosspots.)

Lord knows none of us is perfect. We weren't made perfect. The only angels is to be found in heaven. - Blackbird Pie, Raymond Carver (followed with a sigh)

If living in history means that we cannot help leaving marks on a fallen world, then the dilemma we face is to decide what kind of marks we wish to leave. - The Trouble with Wilderness, William Cronin (interestingly, this essay was republished in Best American Essays 1996...it was my first awareness to an idea like "carbon footprint")

And the newest kid to be inducted to the list (pay attention kids, this is a long one, but worth the wait):

If you love freedom, if you think the human condition is dignified by privacy, by the right to be left alone, by the right to explore your weird ideas provided you don't hurt others, then you have common cause with the kids whose web-browsers and cell phones are being used to lock them up and follow them around.

If you believe that the answer to bad speech is more speech -- not censorship -- then you have a dog in the fight.

If you believe in a society of laws, a land where our rulers have to tell us the rules, and have to follow them too, then you're part of the same struggle that kids fight when they argue for the right to live under the same Bill of Rights that adults have.

This book is meant to be part of the conversation about what an information society means: does it mean total control, or unheard-of liberty? It's not just a noun, it's a verb, it's something you do. - Little Brother, Cory Doctorow