…there seemed some necessity of taking all or nothing; it was as if for the remainder of his life he was condemned to carry with him the egos of certain people, early met and early loved, and to be only as complete as they were complete themselves. There was some element of loneliness involved-so easy to be loved-so hard to love.
-Tender is the Night (245)
…he used to think that he wanted to be good, he wanted to be kind, he wanted to be brave and wise, but it was all pretty difficult. He wanted to be loved, too, if he could fit it in.
-Tender is the Night (133)
Often people display a curious respect for a man drunk, rather like the respect of simple races for the insane. Respect rather than fear. There is something awe-inspiring in one who has lost all inhibitions, who will do anything. Of course we make him pay afterword for his moment of superiority, his moment of impressiveness.
-Tender is the Night (108)
Later she remembered all the hours of the afternoon as happy-one of those uneventful times that seem at the moment only a link between past and future pleasure but turn out to have been the pleasure itself.
-Tender is the Night (59)
…at times she gave the impression of repose that was at once static and evocative. This was because she knew few words and believed in none, and in the world she was rather silent, contributing just her share of urbane humor with a precision that approached meagerness. But at the moment when strangers tended to grow uncomfortable in the presence of this economy she would seize the topic and rush off with it, feverishly surprised with herself-then bring it back and relinquish it abruptly, almost timidly, like an obedient retriever, having been adequate and something more.
-Tender is the Night (26)
I never saw the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock or the parties on Gatsby’s lawn, but they seem more vivid than things that I actually lived. If we are the sum of our experiences, as I believe we are, then books are a more important part of my life than my actual life.
-George R.R. Martin
“[Charles] Schulz’s characters reminded people of the never ceasing struggle to confront one’s vulnerabilities with dignity.”
The next person who tells me to “write a book” like it’s some sort of solution to all of my problems is going to get a stern look of disapproval because that’s the only response I have the energy for.
Sociopaths, by definition, lack compassion and remorse. Some young women in our culture, on the other hand, are overwhelmed by those very same things. Think of emotional sensitivity as a spectrum from 0-10, similar to the volume controls for a radio. It’s healthy to be tuned into the needs of others at about 4 or 5 on the continuum. At that volume, you’re aware of the needs of those around you without being overwhelmed by them. But for some women, the world’s “emotional noise” comes through at 8 or 9 on the spectrum. The needs and demands of others are so clear and loud that these young women often can’t hear themselves think. They’re nearly incapacitated from the effort of absorbing so much emotion, and frequently they feel immensely guilty for not meeting the insatiable demands of those around them. Is it any wonder that they become fascinated with — and even, in some sense, envious of — sociopaths? What else is a sociopath than someone whose “volume control” for the needs of others has been set to mute?
Many times he had tried unsuccessfully to let go his hold on her. They had many fine times together, fine talks between the love of the white night, but always when he turned away from her into himself he left her holding Nothing in her hands and staring at it, calling it many names, but knowing it was only the hope that he would come back soon.
-Tender is the Night (180)