Benjamin

“Whiskey's an acquired taste. Like cigars. And anarchy.”
― Robert Evans, After The Revolution

“The initial intellect that created everything became a man and died, nailed to a wooden post some two thousand years ago, before briefly returning to human life and then transferring back to his ethereal state somewhere outside of the physical world. This anthropoid interlude for this creator deity (many billions of years after the start of the Universe) is believed to compensate for the bad behavior of those people who accept this story as real, thereby ensuring a pleasant continuation of consciousness after their physical body has ceased to be alive.”
― Christopher Knight, Who Built the Moon?

“I wanted to be a virtuous consumer, a demonstrably good feminist, but at the same time I also wanted to be a citizen of the world of art, a person who was the opposite of a philistine. The question, the puzzle, for me was how I might behave correctly, confronted with these twin and seemingly contradictory imperatives. I felt pretty sure the problem was solvable. I just needed to think harder.”
― Claire Dederer, Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma

“Art is often seen as voluntary, an item on a list of choices you’re making, a task that can be prioritized or dispensed with, depending on available resources at the time. An item to be balanced against the exigencies of family. But. If you are an artist and you always, always put your children’s needs first, eventually your own need will make itself heard and you will wonder, What would I have made in those lost years? You will wonder, Am I too late? And you might be. Too late. You might have needed those years, when your kids were small. Just the way other works—lawyers, professors—also need those years if they are to have a career. And the way still other workers need those years if they are to make a living.”
― Claire Dederer, Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma