I write what I can. I think being able to write like Michael Connelly and have a character that goes from novel to novel, or to dramatize history like Vidal or Ellroy, or have an explosively inventive mind like Bulgakov, would be an incredible thing. I don't have that. I only have what I have.

Henry Rollins

Categorized in : Thinking Character Writing

No such thing as spare time, no such thing as free time, no such thing as down time. All you got is life time. Go.

Henry Rollins

spare-time life-time spares

I want a soul mate who can sit me down, shut me up, tell me ten things I don’t already know, and make me laugh. I don’t care what you look like, just turn me on. And if you can do that, I will follow you on bloody stumps through the snow. I will nibble your mukluks with my own teeth. I will do your windows. I will care about your feelings. Just have something in there.

Henry Rollins

soul snow laughing

Go without a coat when it's cold; find out what cold is. Go hungry; keep your existence lean. Wear away the fat, get down to the lean tissue and see what it's all about. The only time you define your character is when you go without. In times of hardship, you find out what you're made of and what you're capable of. If you're never tested, you'll never define you character.

Henry Rollins

tissues hardship character

Strength is the product of struggle, you must do what others don't to achieve what others won't.

Henry Rollins

bodybuilding achieve struggle

Weakness is what brings ignorance, cheapness, racism, homophobia, desperation, cruelty, brutality, all these things that will keep a society chained to the ground, one foot nailed to the floor.

Henry Rollins

ignorance racism feet

If I had to live my life in anticipation of what others thought of me, little would get done.

Henry Rollins

anticipation done littles

Muscle mass does not always equal strength. Strength is kindness and sensitivity. Strength is understanding that your power is both physical and emotional. That it comes from the body and the mind. And the heart.

Henry Rollins

emotional kindness heart

Loneliness adds beauty to life. It puts a special burn on sunsets and makes night air smell better.

Henry Rollins

depressing lonely life

I don't really write for fun; it's not an enjoyable experience. For me, art, or whatever the hell it is I do, has always been a refuge from that which makes me want to tear my lungs out. That's why I play like I play; I'm not into entertainment.

Henry Rollins

writing fun art

My main goal is to stay alive. To keep fooling myself into hanging around. To keep getting up every day. Right now I live without inspiration. I go day to day and do the work because it's all I know. I know that if I keep moving I stand a chance. I must keep myself going until I find a reason to live. I need one so bad. On the other hand maybe I don't. Maybe it's all bullshit. Nothing I knew from my old life can help me here. Most of the things that I believed turned out to be useless. Appendages from someone else's life.

Henry Rollins

inspiration hands moving

I do my best to limit the amount of compromise in my life so I have more time to do what I want. Not hanging out with many people really helps. I am not a people person and I spend a great deal of time on my own and in this environment, I get a lot done.

Henry Rollins

done want people

I believe that when the body is strong, the mind thinks strong thoughts.

Henry Rollins

strong believe thinking

Pizza makes me think that anything is possible.

Henry Rollins

anything-is-possible pizza thinking

We all learn lessons in life. Some stick, some don't. I have always learned more from rejection and failure than from acceptance and success.

Henry Rollins

life-lesson rejection acceptance

In the worst of times the best among us never lose their moral compass, and that is how they emerge relatively unscathed.

Henry Rollins

compass moral leadership

The average is the borderline that keeps mere men in their place. Those who step over the line are heroes by the very act. Go.

Henry Rollins

hero average men

I have found the Iron to be my greatest friend. It never freaks out on me, never runs. Friends may come and go. But two hundred pounds is always two hundred pounds

Henry Rollins

workout strength running

There’s one thing about Black Sabbath which should not be understated: If Black Sabbath is missing any one of its members it’s no longer Black Sabbath.

Henry Rollins

black should missing

Knowledge without mileage equals bullshit.

Henry Rollins

mileage bullshit

You always know the mark of a coward. A coward hides behind freedom. A brave person stands in front of freedom and defends it for others.

Henry Rollins

brave-person mark coward