We live in an era with no historical precedents. History is no longer useful as a tool in helping us understand current changes. Douglas Coupland More Quotes by Douglas Coupland More Quotes From Douglas Coupland I am going to give you a piece of advice... advice I wish I'd been told in guidance class back in high school, in between the don't-do-acid and don't-drink-and-drive films. I wish our counselors had told us, 'When you grow older a dreadful, horrible sensation will come over you. It's called loneliness, and you think you know what it is now, but you don't. Here is the list of the symptoms, and don't worry—loneliness is the most universal sensation on the planet. Just remember one fact—loneliness will pass. You will survive and you will be a better human for it. Douglas Coupland lonelinessschoolthinking You can't get mad at weather because weather's not about you. Apply that lesson to most other aspects of life. Douglas Coupland rainy-daymadweather You guys just wait and see. We'll stand taller than these mountains. We'll bare open our hearts for the world to grab. We'll see lights where there was dimness. We'll testify together to what we have seen and felt. Life will go on--all of us--crawling; stumbling, falling perhaps. But we will be the strong ones. Our hearts will shine brightly. Douglas Coupland strongheartfall The harder you try to become the opposite of your parents, the more quickly you become them. Douglas Coupland parentoppositestrying When someone tells you they’ve just bought a house, they might as well tell you they no longer have a personality. You can immediately assume so many things: that they’re locked into jobs they hate; that they’re broke; that they spend every night watching videos; that they’re fifteen pounds overweight; that they no longer listen to new ideas. It’s profoundly depressing. Douglas Coupland depressinghatejobs We're rapidly approaching a world comprised entirely of jail and shopping. Douglas Coupland shoppingjailworld Starved for affection, terrified of abandonment, I began to wonder if sex was really just an excuse to look deeply into another human being's eyes. Douglas Coupland eyesexlooks When the world throws you too much information, the only way you can stay sane or survive is to look for pattern recognition. Amidst all the blurs, is there a constellation that emerges, is there a straight line that's emerging. I think as long as you keep your mind in the palce where you're actively looking for patterns, you may not be safe, but you're going to feel safe, I think. Douglas Coupland mindlongthinking As the expression goes, we spend our youth attaining wealth, and our wealth attaining youth. Douglas Coupland wealthyouthexpression believe that you've had most of your important memories by the time you're thirty. After that, memory becomes water overflowing into an already full cup. New experiences just don't register in the same way or with the same impact. I could be shooting heroin with the Princess of Wales, naked in a crashing jet, and the experience still couldn't compare to the time the cops chased us after we threw the Taylors' patio furniture into their pool in eleventh grade. Douglas Coupland princessmemoriesbelieve I curled myself into a ball and cried quietly, doing that thing that only young people can do, namely, feeling sorry for myself. Once you're past thirty you lose that ability; instead of feeling sorry for yourself you turn bitter. Douglas Coupland sorrypeoplepast If your life had lyrics, would they be any good? Douglas Coupland good-lifeinspirelife Everybody has a ‘gripping stranger’ in their lives, Andy, a stranger who unwittingly possesses a bizarre hold over you. Maybe it’s the kid in cut-offs who mows your lawn or the woman wearing White Shoulders who stamps your book at the library—a stranger who, if you were to come home and find a message from them on your answering machine saying ‘Drop everything. I love you. Come away with me now to Florida,’ you’d follow them. Douglas Coupland love-youkidsbook Do you remember that old TV series, Get Smart? Do you remember at the beginning where Maxwell Smart is walking down the secret corridor and there are all of those doors that open sideways, and upside down and gateways and stuff? I think that everyone keeps a whole bunch of doors just like this between themselves and the world. But when you're in love, all of your doors are open, and all of their doors are open. And you roller-skate down your halls together. Douglas Coupland smartdoorsthinking I would like to fall in love again but my only hope is that love doesn't happen to me so often after this. I don't want to get so used to falling in love that i get curious to experience something more extreme - whatever that may be. Douglas Coupland falling-in-lovewantmay I don't think anyone ever gets over anything in life; they merely get used to it. Douglas Coupland life-lessonusedthinking On TV people look at your hair and then they look at your skin, and then they look at your clothes, and by the time they're listening to what you're saying, you're off the screen. Douglas Coupland clotheshairpeople Adventure without risk is Disneyland. Douglas Coupland riskadventuretravel If you're not a tree hugger, then you're a what, a tree hater? Douglas Coupland hatertreefun I don't deserve a soul, yet I still have one. I know because it hurts. Douglas Coupland soulhurtphilosophy
