When I was a child, writing was the worst possible choice of a career in my family. Nick Flynn More Quotes by Nick Flynn More Quotes From Nick Flynn Some part of me knew he would show up, that if I stood in one place long enough he would find me, like you're taught to do when you're lost. But they never taught us what to do if both of you are lost, and you both end up in the same place, waiting. Nick Flynn taught-uswaitinglong I offer Emily half of my hit of acid- Love Saves the Day. It's my second or third time tripping, Emily's first, and she's understandably trepid. Awake all night, at one point I find her touching her reflection in a cruelly lit dorm bathroom, asking if she'll ever be the same. I kiss her then for the first time and whisper, No. Nick Flynn kissingreflectionnight Who doesn't want to just disappear, at some point in the day, in a year, to just step off the map and float? Nick Flynn mapswantyears In my experience, whatever happens clings to us like barnacles on the hull of a ship, slowing us slightly, both uglifying and giving us texture. You can scrape all you want, you can, if you have money, hire someone else to scrape, but the barnacles will come back or at least leave a blemish on the steel. Nick Flynn hullsteelgiving There are many ways to drown, only the most obvious wave their arms as they're going under. Nick Flynn wavearmsway There is a physics to the world, which non-fiction has a contract to stand in awe of, otherwise it becomes completely self-centered and ego-driven, which is the death of a memoir. Nick Flynn egoselffiction inside us, a flower taken whole, a field built inside. Nick Flynn flowerfieldstaken Change is one of the only constants in Buddhism; as meditation became the way I breathed in the days, this became apparent. Nick Flynn buddhismmeditationway I believe poetry has very little to do with memory. Nick Flynn littlesmemoriesbelieve I can weep pretty easily. I can get tears in my eyes from a beautiful work of art. Nick Flynn eyebeautifulart The attention one gets from being a poet isnt great. Nick Flynn poetattention The first book I could call mine, my first book, was a picture book, The Magic Monkey - it was adapted from an old Chinese legend by a thirteen-year-old prodigy named Plato Chan with the help of his sister. Nick Flynn platobookyears In life you get one take, and it's perfect. It's strange, afterwards you might think I shouldn't have reacted that way, but that's the way you reacted. That's your take; that's all you get. Nick Flynn perfectmightthinking That soldiers do terrible things during wartime should not surprise us. Nick Flynn wartimesurprisesoldier If you're going to write about someone's life, you don't just use them for wallpaper. You have to honor and respect that life. Nick Flynn honor-and-respectusewriting That Dick Cheney is pro-torture surprises no one; he freely admits it. Nick Flynn dick-cheneyfreelysurpriseshe You come to realize people are not simple. Nick Flynn realizeyousimplepeople My father had always identified himself as a writer to my mother when they met. When they met, he was writing this great novel, there was no doubt about it. Part of why she left him was this delusion of greatness and identifying it very directly with being an artist. Nick Flynn greatgreatnessmotherfather I'm not sure why working at a homeless shelter made sense to me, except that I needed to immerse myself in some sort of larger real-life situation to get me out of the cage of my mind, in some ways. Nick Flynn myselfmesituationmind I had to steel myself against this psychic devastation - to see your father on the street. It's hard enough to pick up somebody you don't know from the streets, and then to actually have other people pick your father up - it was psychically devastating. Nick Flynn myselfyoufatherpeople
