This is what you should know about losing someone you love. They do not travel alone. You go with them. Augusten Burroughs More Quotes by Augusten Burroughs More Quotes From Augusten Burroughs Do not wait for the healing to arrive. It will never come. The holes will never leave or be filled with anything at all. But holes are interesting things. Augusten Burroughs healing waiting interesting I once read about a guy who lost his arms in a fire. The nurse took pity on him and gave him a hand job. I don't even get that. Augusten Burroughs fire jobs hands I told myself, 'All I want is a normal life'. But was that true? I wasn't so sure. Because there was a part of me that enjoyed hating school, and the drama of not going, the potential consequences whatever they were. I was intrigued by the unknown. I was even slightly thrilled that my mother was such a mess. Had I become addicted to crisis? I traced my finger along the windowsill. 'Want something normal, want something normal, want something normal', I told myself. Augusten Burroughs hate mother drama You must never allow something that happened to you to become a morbidly treasured heirloom that you carry, show people, put back in its black velvet pouch and then tuck back into your jacket where you can keep it close to your heart. Augusten Burroughs black heart people I think I love him, but I also think that you can love people who aren't good for you. Augusten Burroughs i-love-him people thinking The truth is that nobody is owed an apology for anything. Apologies are lovely when they happen. But they change nothing. They do not reverse actions or correct damage. They are merely nice to hear. Augusten Burroughs lovely apology nice The Schnauzer listens to jazz. I listen to jazz because he likes it, and I have even gone to jazz concerts with him, but truthfully I would rather listen to retarded children pounding on pan lids with wooden spoons. Augusten Burroughs likes funny children Self-pity is the bestiality of emotions: it absolutely disgusts people. When you're feeling pity for yourself, and somebody says to you 'You think maybe it's time for the pity party to be over? You should stop feeling sorry for yourself and try to think positive,' it makes you wish you could saw their head off. Augusten Burroughs party sorry thinking And I began to let him go. Hour by hour. Days into months. It was a physical sensation, like letting out the string of a kite. Except that the string was coming from my center. Augusten Burroughs kites hours months I think part of the reason I'm attracted to Foster is because he's such a mess. I mean, the people I have loved in my life have never been easy to love. I'm not used to normal. I'm used to disaster. I don't know, as messed up as he is, he's also sort of exciting, sort of a challenge. I'm accustomed to working for love. Augusten Burroughs mean people thinking I knew that if I wrote a new book every six months or every year, if I continued to read great books, eventually I would write something worthy of publication. I understood I might be in my forties or my fifties or even my sixties, but I felt confident that it would happen. Augusten Burroughs writing book years Part of me believes that love is more valuable when you have to work for it. Augusten Burroughs valuable love-is believe Just as I had long suspected, a person didn't really need math for anything anyway. Maybe some people did. Some limited people. Augusten Burroughs math long people I was learning that if I lived slightly in the future-what will happen next-I didn't have to feel so much about what was going on in the present. Augusten Burroughs next happens feels What nobody understood then is this: The only way that you achieve what you want and fulfill your dreams and become great is by demanding that sort of attention. You have to make it happen. Augusten Burroughs dream want attention But then, look at me. My brain is incorrectly formed, and I'm shaped like a tube. Plus, I'm an alcoholic, a "survivor" of childhood sexual abuse, was raised in a cult and have no education. So, really, if you think about it, the only thing that separates me from the guy with the stinky foot and no teeth is a book deal and some cologne. Augusten Burroughs feet book thinking Think of the actual physical elements that compose our bodies: we are 98 percent hydrogen and oxygen and carbon. That's table sugar. You are made of the same stuff as table sugar. Just a couple of tiny differences here and there and look what happened to the sugar: it can stand upright and send tweets. Augusten Burroughs oxygen couple thinking Because here is the truth: If you want to have a chance at meeting somebody with whom you are genuinely compatible, never put your best foot forward. Augusten Burroughs chance feet want Nothing made sense to me anymore. I knew I was young, I knew I was small. But I was worried that I might already be ruined. Augusten Burroughs worried might life Acceptance, when it comes, arrives in waves: Listen with your chest. You will feel a pendulum swing within you, favoring one direction or another. And that is your answer. The answer is always inside your chest. The right choice weighs more. That's how you know. It causes you to lean in its direction. Augusten Burroughs one-direction swings acceptance