Chris

“If you want to really hurt you parents, and you don't have the nerve to be gay, the least you can do is go into the arts. I'm not kidding. The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possible can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.”
― Kurt Vonnegut, A Man Without a Country

“they thought I had guts
they were wrong
I was only frightened of
more important things”
― Charles Bukowski

“...you can't write well with only the nice parts of your character, and only about nice things. And I don't want even to try anymore. I want to use everything, including hate and envy and lust and fear.”
― Alison Lurie, Real People

“the music was always in the background, like music at a church service; it was something to depend upon.”
― Joyce Carol Oates, High Lonesome: Selected Stories, 1966-2006