Still though, I think if you're not self-obsessed, you're probably boring. Dave Eggers More Quotes by Dave Eggers More Quotes From Dave Eggers Some of these kids just don't plain know how good they are: how smart and how much they have to say. You can tell them. You can shine that light on them, one human interaction at a time. Dave Eggers smartlightkids I need eight hours to get maybe 20 minutes of work done. I had one of those yesterday: seven hours of self-loathing. Dave Eggers eightselfyesterday Suffering is only suffering if it’s done in silence, in solitude. Pain experienced in public, in view of loving millions, was no longer pain. It was communion. Dave Eggers painsilenceviews I have no idea how people function without near-constant internal chaos. I'd lose my mind. Dave Eggers mindpeopleideas Be strong, be brave, be true. Endure. Dave Eggers endurestrongbrave I was feeling everything too much. Everything pulled at my eyes. I spent hours floating in pools. Dave Eggers floatingeyefeelings I think almost every writer in the world would hope that books would be always talked about with respect and civility and depth and seriousness. Dave Eggers depthbookthinking I had the sensation that I might always be running like this, that I would always have to run, and that I would always be able to run. Dave Eggers ablerunningmight I'll always be working on five things at once, usually with those documents open at the same time because if I get stuck somewhere I'll jump over to something else. That's how my head has always worked. Dave Eggers documentsstuckfive I see colors like you hear jet planes. Dave Eggers jet-planeslike-youcolor You can't ever guess at life, at pain. All pain is real, and all pain is personal. It's the most personal thing we have. It eats each of us differently. Dave Eggers personal-thingspainreal Do not be critics, you people, I beg you. I was a critic and I wish I could take it all back because it came from a smelly and ignorant place in me, and spoke with a voice that was all rage and envy. Do not dismiss a book until you have written one, and do not dismiss a movie until you have made one, and do not dismiss a person until you have met them. It is a f@*$%load of work to be open-minded and generous and understanding and forgiving and accepting, but Christ, that is what matters. What matters is saying yes. Dave Eggers creativitywhat-mattersbook GOD: I own you like I own the caves. THE OCEAN: Not a chance. No comparison. GOD: I made you. I could tame you. THE OCEAN: At one time, maybe. But not now. GOD: I will come to you, freeze you, break you. THE OCEAN: I will spread myself like wings. I am a billion tiny feathers. You have no idea what's happened to me. Dave Eggers oceanwingsideas And we will be ready, at the end of every day will be ready, will not say no to anything, will try to stay awake while everyone is sleeping, will not sleep, will make the shoes with the elves, will breathe deeply all the time, breathe in all the air full of glass and nails and blood, will breathe it and drink it, so rich, so when it comes we will not be angry, will be content, tired enough to go, gratefully, will shake hands with everyone, bye, bye, and then pack a bag, some snacks, and go to the volcano. Dave Eggers tiredglassessleep But what I really want is to just swim around in a warm baby pool of these friends, jump in their dry leaf pile-to rub them all over myself, without words and clothes. Dave Eggers clothesswimbaby Well, my background is journalism. I don't have any creative-writing experience except for one class I took as a sophomore in college. Dave Eggers collegewritingclass In hospitals I feel palpable comfort. I feel the competence, the expertise, so much education and money, all of the supplies sterile, everything packaged, sealed tight. My fears evaporate when the automatic doors shush open. Dave Eggers competencecomfortdoors When we pass by another person without telling them we love them it’s cruel and wrong and we all know this. Dave Eggers personsknows For years I feared the opening of every elevator, half-convinced that from the opened doors would come a bullet, for me, shot by a man in a tan trenchcoat. I have no idea why I feared this, expected it to happen. I even knew how I would react to this bullet coming from the elevator door, what word I would say. That word was: Finally. Dave Eggers doorsmenyears You might not be able to operate your own Learjet and have an unlimited expense account, but if you have a reasonable expectation for a print-based product, whether it's a newspaper or a magazine, you can certainly exist. Dave Eggers magazinesexpectationsmight
