Chuck Palahniuk Quotes

American novelist, known for his darkly humorous and transgressive works, including "Fight Club" and "Choke."

If you knew that your life was merely a phase or short, short segment of your entire existence, how would you live? Knowing nothing 'real' was at risk, what would you do? You'd live a gigantic, bold, fun, dazzling life. You know you would. That's what the ghosts want us to do - all the exciting things they no longer can.

What is the real purpose behind the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus? They seem like greater steps toward faith and imagination, each with a payoff. Like cognitive training exercises.

Meeting authors is kind of the death of the charac... -Chuck Palahniuk

Meeting authors is kind of the death of the characters. That is always heartbreaking.

Our Generation has had no Great war, no Great Depression. Our war is spiritual. Our depression is our lives.

If death meant just leaving the stage long enough to change costume and come back as a new character, would you slow down? Or speed up?

I wanted to write about the moment when your addictions no longer hide the truth from you. When your whole life breaks down. That's the moment when you have to somehow choose what your life is going to be about.

Of the big horror movies of the '70s, you have 'The Omen,' 'The Sentinel,' 'Rosemary's Baby,' 'The Stepford Wives,' 'Burnt Offerings' - these are all romantic fatalist movies where there's a sort of glimmer of hope... but darkness wins.

My teacher Tom Spanbauer, the man who got me started writing in his workshop, used to say: 'Writers write because they weren't invited to a party.' That always struck so true, and people always nod their heads when they hear that. Especially writers.

With a book, you're guaranteed the audience has a certain skill level and that the audience has to make an ongoing effort to consume this product and that the project is being consumed by just one person at a time. I really want to play to that strength because it's one of the few advantages books still have.

Find out what you're afraid of and go live there.

If nothing else, there's comfort in recognising that no matter how much we fail and sin, death will limit our suffering.

When working, my diet degrades to pizza three times a day, because I don't want to distract myself from anything.

We're so much more likely to feel sympathy for an animal than another person; thus, the best fiction uses animals to define truly humane behavior.

Jack Palance was my distant uncle - that's the family gossip. Growing up, my family knew everything about his face getting burned and scarred in the military and how that mutilation led him to become such a famous 'heavy' in films. I prayed for good scars of my own. Not just acne scars.

When did the future switch from being a promise to... -Chuck Palahniuk

When did the future switch from being a promise to a threat?

The world of American politics is more contentious... -Chuck Palahniuk

The world of American politics is more contentious than it has ever been in my lifetime.

Discovering the context

The quote suggests that the current state of American politics is characterized by increased conflict and disagreement compared to the speaker's past experiences.

My goal is never to make fun of religion.

I'm always trying to reach a transcendent point, a romantic point, but reach it in a really unconventional way, a really profane way. To get to that romantic, touching, heartbreaking place, but through a lot of acts of profanity.

Game shows are designed to make us feel better about the random, useless facts that are all we have left of our education.

In a way, a lot of my humor comes from presenting things that are dramatic or shocking and then people not having socially appropriate responses, having people denying the drama by failing to react to it, and that's a really classic form of humor.

Maybe humans are just the pet alligators that God ... -Chuck Palahniuk

Maybe humans are just the pet alligators that God flushed down the toilet.

Discovering the context

It presents a humorous and satirical perspective, suggesting that humans might be considered as insignificant or disposable beings in comparison to divine entities, using a playful analogy of pet alligators being flushed down the toilet.

The only way to find true happiness is to risk bei... -Chuck Palahniuk

The only way to find true happiness is to risk being completely cut open.

Find joy in everything you choose to do. Every job, relationship, home... it's your responsibility to love it, or change it.

Chuck Palahniuk Quotes

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