Robin Ince > Quotes

“We want to be just wonky enough to be interesting, but not so wonky that our life is unbearable or painful.”
― Robin Ince, I'm a Joke and So Are You: Reflections on Humour and Humanity

“I am not man or beast; I am bibliosexual, and a seedy bibliosexual who haunts the streets, laden with carrier bags held by blistered fingers, stooping under the weight of the rucksack that has brought on sciatica and a Dickensian demeanour.”
― Robin Ince, Robin Ince's Bad Book Club: One Man's Quest to Uncover the Books that Time Forgot

“First, they came for the bigots, and I said nothing, because I didn’t believe I was a bigot, then…it was really nice, it turned out it was the bigots who’d been the main issue. We just all went out and had a lovely picnic together.”
― Robin Ince

“This is one of the wonders of books: the delight of being a species that can chronicle and preserve. I pick up a book from a shelf, and someone who is no more than ash or bone can still change me.”
― Robin Ince, Bibliomaniac: An Obsessive's Tour of the Bookshops of Britain

“If you really want space on public transport you should carry some pornography from the 1970s and a pair of children's safety scissors, then delicately cut out all the eyes of the glamour models whilst whistling. Every now and again mutter, 'Why are women more beautiful when they are eyeless?' You will be able to stretch out, though this can have ramifications such as ending up on a police list or being run out of town.”
― Robin Ince, Robin Ince's Bad Book Club: One Man's Quest to Uncover the Books That Taste Forgot

“Boredom and dull tasks are a reminder that we could be doing something better with our time; they act as a contrast and incitement to fill our time more imaginatively. Boredom leads to daydreaming, and daydreaming can lead to creation. So throw away your smartphone and read a phonebook instead.”
― Robin Ince, I'm a Joke and So Are You: Reflections on Humour and Humanity

“When someone complains that you haven't created what they wanted, that's really not your problem. It is up to them to find the means and ideas to create what they think the world is missing. Sometimes, if you want it, then it's up to you to make it. Build it and they may not come, but at least you've built something.”
― Robin Ince, I'm a Joke and So Are You: Reflections on Humour and Humanity

“I wonder how it can be considered that science disenchants the world. The power of the spells of physics to make the empty solid — and nothing, something — seem greater than anything I have ever read in folk tales.”
― Robin Ince, The Importance of Being Interested: Adventures in Scientific Curiosity

“The length of time you have supposedly been getting away with the fakery doesn’t necessarily reduce the suspicion that you have of yourself as an impostor. We judge ourselves on the terms of our own inner monologue, and others by their outer appearance, which will never be an equal match. Everyone else looks so confident at the party, so are you the only one terrified of picking up a vol-au-vent, for fear the prawn filling will splurt down your top or you’ll have pastry-plastered teeth, just as a stranger decides to make conversation with you? Will your conversation be too polite? Or insufferably dull? Why is everyone else in the world vivacious, except you?”
― Robin Ince, I'm a Joke and So Are You: Reflections on Humour and Humanity

“Could it be that the man over there, gesticulating with a cocktail stick, is screaming on the inside, ‘Why did I start this story? There’s no punchline. How can I bail out? These people must hate me. Make your excuses and leave NOW!’ See that woman over there, passionately describing why she loved the latest Star Wars film? Is she really paddling wildly and thinking, ‘They know I haven’t seen it, I’ve only read the synopsis, but I thought it would help me fit in. I am not even sure Chewbacca is in it.’ See that guy over there, throwing his head back in laughter as he eats a devilled egg? He doesn’t know what he’s laughing about, and he just imagined throwing himself out of that open window. I wonder if the secret of the social human is to tactfully conceal the fact that you’re screaming on the inside. Or am I just projecting my scream onto others?”
― Robin Ince, I'm a Joke and So Are You: Reflections on Humour and Humanity

“It is that which we cannot control which dominates us.”
― Robin Ince, I'm a Joke and So Are You: Reflections on Humour and Humanity

“I like charity bookshops, because I can delude myself into believing that I am committing an altruistic act by purchasing too many books. I am not satisfying my consumer lust – I am digging a well in Uganda.”
― Robin Ince, Bibliomaniac: An Obsessive's Tour of the Bookshops of Britain

“It is easy to fall into the trap of feeling that it is only through being miserable that you can be deep and meaningful.”
― Robin Ince, I'm a Joke and So Are You: Reflections on Humour and Humanity

“Some people may harrumph and grumble, 'Generation Snowflake!', but what is the harm in trying to make an individual's life less stressful through a single simple action?”
― Robin Ince, I'm a Joke and So Are You: Reflections on Humour and Humanity

“For Carlos, this is the most incredible thing about the universe. This is where his god comes in. He believes that God's act if creation was to create physics, and after that He went on holiday.”
― Robin Ince, The Importance of Being Interested: Adventures in Scientific Curiosity

“For instance, the oft-repeated idea that ‘we only use 10 per cent of the brain’ has no basis in fact, although recent research suggests that people who perpetually repeat that we only use 10 per cent of the brain may be using even less of theirs.”
― Robin Ince, I'm a Joke and So Are You: Reflections on Humour and Humanity

“Similarly, an interest in cannibalism and wondering what human flesh tastes like is apparently not meant to be broached until at least a third invitation.”
― Robin Ince, I'm a Joke and So Are You: Reflections on Humour and Humanity

“As I was thinking about this chapter, my sister gave me a birthday card. It had a quotation from Robin Williams, ‘You’re only given a little spark of madness. You mustn’t lose it.’ It reminded me that we must all use our spark of madness well, create whatever we can from it, and not fear it.”
― Robin Ince, I'm a Joke and So Are You: Reflections on Humour and Humanity

“I believe we all need to think about the power and impact of our words on others. Words are not 'just words', and whilst laughter can often be an important and powerful release, we have to consider how our humour is impacting on all those who are listening, and then decide just how much we give a fuck about whether we offend them or not. After all, some listeners might still be idiots.”
― Robin Ince

“I wonder if the secret of the social human is to tactfully conceal the fact that you're screaming on the inside.”
― Robin Ince, I'm a Joke and So Are You: Reflections on Humour and Humanity

“I don't think the cure for the anxiety of existence is remaining in the quiet of the attic; it didn't do much for the first Mrs Rochester.”
― Robin Ince, I'm a Joke and So Are You: Reflections on Humour and Humanity

“We think that something in the past is not real any more, but it is still there in general relativity. It is part of the curved spacetime in which we live. Just because an event is behind us in our timeline does not make it any less real. When someone you love dies, or when a time that you valued is over, it can never be recaptured, but it is there.”
― Robin Ince, The Importance of Being Interested: Adventures in Scientific Curiosity

“There is a toxic satisfaction that can be found in whining about others while doing nothing yourself.”
― Robin Ince, I'm a Joke and So Are You: Reflections on Humour and Humanity

“Philippa Perry’s thoughts that I have repeated most often: ‘The problem is that we judge everyone else from their exterior, and ourselves from the interior.”
― Robin Ince, I'm a Joke and So Are You: Reflections on Humour and Humanity

“It’s easier to focus on being creative if you are not preoccupied with socialising with popular people. Sitting on the edge is a far better spot from which to observe than being hugged in the middle.”
― Robin Ince, I'm a Joke and So Are You: Reflections on Humour and Humanity

“If you really want space on public transport you should carry some pornography from the 1970s and a pair of children's safety scissors, then delicately cut out all the eyes of the glamour models whilst whistling.”
― Robin Ince

“The only things stopping me today are: genetics, lack of will, income, brain chemistry, and external events.”
― Robin Ince, I'm a Joke and So Are You: Reflections on Humour and Humanity

“Buying books would be a good thing if one could also buy the time to read them; but as a rule the purchase of books is mistaken for the appropriation of their contents.”
― Robin Ince, I'm a Joke and So Are You: Reflections on Humour and Humanity

“Your imagination may start out as a windowbox of flowers, but it is up to you to turn it into a meadow.”
― Robin Ince, I'm a Joke and So Are You: Reflections on Humour and Humanity