Elizabeth Mckenzie > Quotes

“By clearly emphasizing all that was lacking in others, by mapping and raising to an art form the catalog of their flaws, Veblen’s mother had inversely punched out a template for an ideal human being, and it was the unspoken assumption that Veblen would aspire to this template with all her might.”
― Elizabeth Mckenzie, The Portable Veblen

“When you entered the cavern of another language, you could leave certain people behind, for they had no interest in following you in. You could, by way of translation, emerge from the cavern and share your adventures with them. You didn’t have to be an intellectual in a black beret smoking clove cigarettes to be a translator, not at all. You could become one in your blue flannel pajamas, your face smeared with Clearsil. You did.”
― Elizabeth Mckenzie, The Portable Veblen

“Thorstein Veblen would say people hate squirrels, she called up to him, "because that's the only way to motivate expenditure on them - such as buying traps or guns. It's the same with stirring up patriotic emotionalism, because it justifies expenditures for defense.”
― Elizabeth Mckenzie, The Portable Veblen

“A life could be spent like an apology—to prove you had been worth it.”
― Elizabeth Mckenzie, The Portable Veblen

“We employed a stocky Yorkshire woman to walk me home from school past the barbershop with the unhappy mynah bird. "Kill me!" it suggested as we passed by.”
― Elizabeth Mckenzie, Stop That Girl: A Novel in Stories

“The Flying squirrel flies, and the Irksome squirrel irks. The Spinning squirrel spins and the Smirking squirrel smirks. The Crapulous craps and the Lurking lurks; But when the Talking squirrel talks, none but a Listening Human works.”
― Elizabeth Mckenzie, The Portable Veblen

“Do you think wishful thinking is a psychiatric condition?”
― Elizabeth Mckenzie, The Portable Veblen

“Art is despair with dignity.”
― Elizabeth Mckenzie, The Portable Veblen

“While we're talking about my dreams, about how I'm gloomy and combative, and about displacing those feelings onto my pillow instead of my loved ones.”
― Elizabeth Mckenzie, Stop That Girl: A Novel in Stories

“And yet - with those well-marked whiskers, and that topcoat, and the notable scruff, a squirrel who cared and followed you everywhere - wouldn't that be nice?”
― Elizabeth Mckenzie, The Portable Veblen

“It bothered Veblen’s mother that most people were lazy and had given up original thought a long time ago, stealing stale phrases from the media like magpies.”
― Elizabeth Mckenzie, The Portable Veblen

“If you love it enough, anything will talk with you.” —G. W. CARVER”
― Elizabeth Mckenzie, The Portable Veblen

“He says marriage is a continuous inevitable confrontation that can be resolved only through death.”
― Elizabeth Mckenzie, The Portable Veblen

“See? You're using the stoic glacier method."

"Remind me, what's the stoic glacier method?"

"It's the slow process of shaping someone's behavior by force of one's own personal stoicism.”
― Elizabeth Mckenzie, The Portable Veblen

“It is one kind of trouble to kiss your fiancé good-bye in the morning and immediately turn your thoughts to another man. But it's another kind altogether if the other man has been dead for nine decades, or is of the genus Sciurus.”
― Elizabeth Mckenzie, The Portable Veblen

“She'd let her eyes water so the view was blurry, which gave certain qualities of the world neglected by clear eyesight the chance to come forth, such as the shocking beauty of color, and she remembered this with compassion for that silly young self, which had deserved to have her hand held.”
― Elizabeth Mckenzie, The Portable Veblen

“She had a lot of practice standing things because she had to stand them, which was a hard habit to break.”
― Elizabeth Mckenzie, The Portable Veblen

“Are you committed to having a really strange life?"

She laughed. "Probably. What do you mean?”
― Elizabeth Mckenzie, The Portable Veblen

“She had once concluded everyone on earth was a servant to the previous generation—born from the body’s factory for entertainment and use. A life could be spent like an apology—to prove you had been worth it.”
― Elizabeth Mckenzie, The Portable Veblen

“And from a branch in the tall tree, a small gray squirrel released a mighty roar.”
― Elizabeth Mckenzie, The Portable Veblen

“She counted on herself to withstand everything. And yet, who said she had to? What would happen if she broke down now and then?”
― Elizabeth Mckenzie, The Portable Veblen

“HER OWN VISION of the future was of happiness in the air. Something was baking. Children were playing games. There were flowers and substantial trees, and birds were singing in their nests. She was living with someone who was laughing.”
― Elizabeth Mckenzie, The Portable Veblen

“Veblen, you may not know it now, but marriage affects everything that happens to you. Your mate becomes the mirror in which you see yourself. If he doesn't see you as a beautiful pearl, you'll wither.”
― Elizabeth Mckenzie, The Portable Veblen

“This town is infested with squirrels, have you noticed?"

"I'd rather say it's rich with squirrels.”
― Elizabeth Mckenzie, The Portable Veblen

“That until now she was a Christmas tree that had been decorated by someone who hated Christmas.”
― Elizabeth Mckenzie, The Portable Veblen

“While she was by temperament very forgiving to others, she was not inclined to be generous to herself. Nothing offended her more than her own faults, which seemed to be revealing themselves lately with alarming frequency. She was muted and superstitious, stunted and weak, and if she spent much more time thinking about it, she’d have a list that rolled out the door on a scroll. There was no perfect being out there, accepting, intelligent, kind, creative, full of life and appetite. Muckraker, carouser, sweet-toothed, lion-hearted. Or was there? 23”
― Elizabeth Mckenzie, The Portable Veblen

“Part of her wanted to do all the normal bridely things and the other part wanted to embrace her disdain for everything of the sort.”
― Elizabeth Mckenzie, The Portable Veblen

“Discussing the wedding created a perplexing hollow in Veblen. She had picked up a copy of Brides magazine since the whole idea came into play; it wanted to fill her mind with wedding souvenirs and makeovers and cake toppers and what she would wear on her head, but none of that stuff captivated her the way she knew it was supposed to, and she wondered if she should make it an actual goal to start relating to all the bridal fanfare in a more happy-go-lucky way so she wouldn’t miss out on something important. How do you know if you’re stubbornly missing out, or if it’s just not for you and that’s perfectly okay?”
― Elizabeth Mckenzie, The Portable Veblen

“I pledge allegiance, to the marketplace,
of the United States of America. TM.
And to the conglomerates, for which we shill,
one nation under Exxon-Mobile/Halliburton/Boeing/Walmart,
nonrefundable,
with litter and junk mail for all!”
― Elizabeth Mckenzie, The Portable Veblen

“I want to meet muckrakers, carousers, the sweet-toothed, and the lion-hearted, and you don't know if yet, but you are all of these.”
― Elizabeth Mckenzie, The Portable Veblen