It doesn't matter what you can do if you don't know why you're doing it. Chuck Klosterman More Quotes by Chuck Klosterman More Quotes From Chuck Klosterman If someone feels negative about the way society or culture seems to be going, what it probably suggests is that it's just moving away from the state that they are comfortable with or used to. It's understandable why someone would feel that way. Chuck Klosterman culturenegativemoving The thing that has always baffled me about people's perception of my writing is the sense that I'm a very controversial, opinionated, polarizing person. I feel like I write about things that I'm interested in, and I describe why they're interesting to me. I could be negative, I guess. It's far easier to write why something is terrible than why it's good. Chuck Klosterman writingpeopleinteresting There's this belief that some things can be taken seriously in an intellectual way, while some things are only entertainment or only a commodity. Or there's some kind of critical consensus that some things are "good," and some things are garbage, throwaway culture. And I think the difference between them, in a lot of ways, is actually much less than people think. Especially when you get down to how they affect the audience. Chuck Klosterman differencestakenthinking Different critics go to different lengths to disagree with that sentiment, but ultimately, they're the person experiencing this art, and whatever judgment or taste they use is internal, and says more about them than about the record they're writing about. Chuck Klosterman differentwritingart If you can't swim, the idea of being in nine feet of water is terrifying, much less the ocean. Chuck Klosterman oceanfeetideas I'm good at being by myself. I guess if you're a writer you get used to that. Chuck Klosterman usedifs As an adult, the only people who care about horror movies are academics. No one loves to talk about horror films more than somebody with a Ph.D. in cultural studies at a university. Chuck Klosterman who-caresadultspeople I'm really an alarmist when it comes to epidemics. Swine flu now; when SARS was big, I was all freaked out about that, bird flu. That terrifies me. Chuck Klosterman epidemicsflubird I'd ask people to keep in mind the idea that if you really understand something, it's even more important for you to consider the possibility of your wrongness. Even if it takes someone dumber than you to point that out. Chuck Klosterman importantmindpeople I was a teenager in the '80s - and maybe I'm wrong about this - but it seemed like a bad era for movies that were scary. It was really the height of movies that were disgusting. Chuck Klosterman erasteenagerscary When I'm walking around, I'm usually drinking pop, so I can't have a mask on. That's why I couldn't be a surgeon. Chuck Klosterman maskpopsdrinking I would hate for climate change to be accepted simply because everyone was dying. Chuck Klosterman climatehatedying Maybe I could survive in one of those resort prisons where they house white-collar criminals. I've always wanted to get better at tennis. Chuck Klosterman tenniswhitehouse If I'm around spiders, my fear isn't so much the spider, but my fear is that I'm somewhere rustic and that spiders are crawling around. I must be in the woods. Chuck Klosterman crawlingspiderswoods Flying to me isn't scary, it's just incredibly boring. And I guess I have a fear of boredom, so in that regard, I'm afraid to fly. Chuck Klosterman boredomflyingscary All my friends are rock critics, so we talk about rock criticism a lot. Because of that, in order to be part of the conversation, you have to have an awareness of what the discussion is. Chuck Klosterman rockscriticismorder Cars are the most central thing in America, in a lot of ways. They've probably influenced the way we live more than anything else, and yet every really big problem - whether it's the environment or who dictates the international economy because of oil - is all tied to cars. Ultimately, cars are bad for civilization. I don't know if they'll end us. Chuck Klosterman oilcivilizationamerica In some ways, Halloween is much easier for women. They can just dress as sluts, and it's kind of a costume, if they never do any other time. Chuck Klosterman halloweendressesway The debate about climate change in many ways is tied to the petroleum industry. If the value of petroleum was considerably less than it is, and the value of coal was considerably less than it is, there would be much less debate about this. Chuck Klosterman coalclimateway People are more interested in reading bombastic ideas, whether they're positive or negative. Part of me has sort of lost interest in doing criticism because of that. I've always realized that criticism is basically autobiography. Obviously in my criticism, it's very clear that it's autobiography, but I think it's that way for everybody. Chuck Klosterman readingideasthinking
