Hubert Selby, Jr.: As Lao Tzu says, "The Tao that can be named is not...

I think the function of suffering is to let me know that my perception is skewed; what I’m doing is judging natural events in such a way that I am creating suffering within myself. For instance, you have pain over certain conditions, certain situations that occur. And if you just say ‘ok, here I am, I’m going to experience the pain,’ you don’t suffer. The resistance and the degree of the resistance to the natural phenomenon of life causes tremendous suffering.

Hubert Selby, Jr.

pain here-i-am thinking

Being an artist doesn’t take much, just everything you got. Which means, of course, that as the process is giving you life, it is also bringing you closer to death. But it’s no big deal. They are one in the same and cannot be avoided or denied. So when I totally embrace this process, this life/death, and abandon myself to it, I transcend all this meaningless gibberish and hang out with the gods. It seems to me that that is worth the price of admission.

Hubert Selby, Jr.

artist giving mean

Obviously, I believe that to pursue the American Dream is not only futile but self-destructive because ultimately it destroys everything and everyone involved with it. By definition it must, because it nurtures everything except those things that are important: integrity, ethics, truth, our very heart and soul. Why? The reason is simple: because Life/life is giving, not getting.

Hubert Selby, Jr.

dream integrity believe

I'm focusing on writing the best story I can write. Which means I'm doing everything I can to give the artist within me as much power as possible.

Hubert Selby, Jr.

artist writing mean

Sometimes we have the absolute certainty there's something inside us that's so hideous and monstrous that if we ever search it out we won't be able to stand looking at it. But it's when we're willing to come face to face with that demon that we face the angel.

Hubert Selby, Jr.

able angel faces

It seems to me that what the artist sees is the simple and obvious that is invisible to everybody else.

Hubert Selby, Jr.

invisible artist simple

Angels is a tough word, because it is so involved with organized religion and everything else. I do know, absolutely, from my experience, there are some kind of spiritual entities - force, power, intelligence - that guide me through each and every day, as long as I'm willing to accept, recognize, and surrender to their guidance. It's always there, but there are times when I insist upon having my way.

Hubert Selby, Jr.

angel spiritual long

I just don't seem to be capable of believing in evil as some separate, distinct power within itself. I guess I'm just not a Southern Baptist or a Fundamentalist. I just don't seem to be capable of believing in it myself, somehow. I don't . . . I can't conceive from my experience how this force of evil can exist without the force of love being right there.

Hubert Selby, Jr.

evil love-is believe

There's a sorrow and pain in everyone's life, but every now and then there's a ray of light that melts the loneliness in your heart and brings comfort like hot soup and a soft bed.

Hubert Selby, Jr.

pain loneliness heart

I was sitting at home and had a profound experience. I experienced, in all of my Being, that someday I was going to die, and it wouldn't be like it had been happening, almost dying but somehow staying alive, but I would just die! And two things would happen right before I died: I would regret my entire life; I would want to live it over again. This terrified me. The thought that I would live my entire life, look at it and realize I blew it forced me to do something with my life.

Hubert Selby, Jr.

regret home two

But to believe that getting stuff is the purpose and aim of life is madness.

Hubert Selby, Jr.

aim-of-life purpose believe

I think in a way the great irony or paradox about America is that it makes it so hard for the sensitive person, the artist, the impressionable person, the person whose raison d'etre is to incarnate the creative will, rather than to just make money, and yet that extreme difficulty that the culture poses for us has created some of the best artists in the last hundred years.

Hubert Selby, Jr.

creative artist thinking

I guess it could be said that the inspiration for 'Requiem for a Dream' is watching the American dream not only destroy so many lives in the U.S., but infect the rest of the world with its obsession with getting more, ignoring the deadly effect that has on the planet.

Hubert Selby, Jr.

inspiration dream world

No matter how beautiful the outside may be, the inside still has feelings and needs that just words don't fulfill.

Hubert Selby, Jr.

feelings beautiful needs

Sometimes it seems to stand still. Like you’re in a bag and you can’t get out and somebody’s always telling you that it will get better with time and time just seems to stand still and laugh at you and your pain.

Hubert Selby, Jr.

get-better pain laughing

One of the things that fascinates me is the music of speech.

Hubert Selby, Jr.

...and he just sat back and stared at the tube, almost interested in what was happening, trying to find the ability to believe in that lie so he could believe the one within.

Hubert Selby, Jr.

trying believe lying

The responsibility of the artist is to transcend the human ego.

Hubert Selby, Jr.

ego artist responsibility

Life was not longer something to endure, but to live.

Hubert Selby, Jr.

endure

I'm always presenting myself with problems to solve as a writer.

Hubert Selby, Jr.

presenting problem

As Lao Tzu says, "The Tao that can be named is not the true Tao".