The abyss is full of reality, the abyss experiences itself, the abyss is alive. Denis Johnson More Quotes by Denis Johnson More Quotes From Denis Johnson We in Purgatory sing fondly of Hell. Denis Johnson purgatory hell We can’t always tell the whole story about ourselves. Denis Johnson whole stories Memories assailed him of how gently she had spoken, touched, and moved; of how she'd loved him fiercely despite his mistakes and obsessions and weaknesses. And the conviction descended on him that love like theirs couldn't possibly suffer any change. Denis Johnson suffering mistake memories There was a part of her she hadn’t yet allowed to be born because it was too beautiful for this place Denis Johnson born beautiful Write the unpublishable.. .and then publish it. Denis Johnson publish writing Love and violence-not to conquer one with the other but to live with both, that's what I've learned. Each pulling me a different way. If I relax my struggles they don't tear me in two, but lift me up. Denis Johnson tears struggle two Through this feeling of helplessness suddenly burst a piercing nostalgia for the lost world of childhood. The way it came right up against the heart, that world, and against the face. No indoors or outdoors, only everything touching us, and the grown-ups lumbering past overhead like constellations. Denis Johnson childhood heart past With each step my heart broke for the person I would never find, the person who'd love me. Denis Johnson broke steps heart The movie's not over till everybody's dead. Denis Johnson Everybody’s got a mean side. Just don’t feed it till it grows. Denis Johnson grows sides mean All the modern verse plays, they're terrible; they're mostly about the poetry. It's more important that the play is first. Denis Johnson important play firsts You're under pressure when you produce facts. You're working with facts in journalism, but you're under all kinds of formal constraints; there are expectations. Denis Johnson pressure expectations facts There's so much goop inside of us, man," he said, "and it all just wants to get out. Denis Johnson want said men And you, you ridiculous people, you expect me to help you. Denis Johnson ridiculous helping people She had nothing in this world but her two hands and her crazy love for Jesus, who seemed, for his part, never to have heard of her. Denis Johnson crazy hands jesus They needed to share one secret after another with a beautiful woman, to peel away layer after layer, mask after mask, and still find themselves worshiped. Denis Johnson layers secret beautiful If you write fiction, you're by yourself. There are certain advantages to that in that you don't have to explain anything to anybody. But when you get in with others who share the loneliness of the whole enterprise, you're not lonely anymore. Denis Johnson lonely loneliness writing There were many moments in the Vine like that one--where you might think today was yesterday, and yesterday was tomorrow, and so on. Because we all believed we were tragic, and we drank. We had that helpless, destined feeling. We would die with handcuffs on. We would be put a stop to, and it wouldn't be our fault. So we imagined. And yet we were always being found innocent for ridiculous reasons. Denis Johnson yesterday feelings thinking I was probably 35 when I wrote the first story. The voice is kind of a mix in that it has a young voice, but it's also someone who's looking back. I like that kind of double vision. Denis Johnson double-vision aerospace voice I wandered over across the hall where they were showing a short movie about vasectomies. Much later I told her that I'd actually gotten a vasectomy a long time ago, and somebody else must have gotten her pregnant. I also told her once that I had inoperable cancer and would soon be passed away and gone, eternally. But nothing I could think up, no matter how dramatic or horrible, ever made her repent or love me the way she had at first, before she really knew me. Denis Johnson cancer long thinking