Quotessence
Home / Authors / Chuck Palahniuk
Chuck Palahniuk

Chuck Palahniuk Quotes

Novelist

Filter quotes by topic

AllPeopleIfsWantWorldKnowsWayStoriesThinkingWritingFight Club NovelLooksDiesInvisible MonstersGivingLifeMomentsFight Club BookIdeasFeelsFirsts

Famous Chuck Palahniuk Quotes

“You could go church and you could describe your worst behavior, your worst self, and despite your worst behavior you would be forgiven and then redeemed and then accepted back into the community through communion. So you didn't have to carry this burden your entire life. Once a week you went someplace you went someplace where you could really look terrible and be loved despite how terrible you were.”

LooksSelfWould BeCommunityChurchWeekWorstTerribleBehaviorBurdenAcceptedDespiteCommunionForgivenRedeemed
Author:Chuck Palahniuk
Create image

“As young people we want something to slow us down and keep us trapped in one place long enough to look below the surface of the world. That disaster is a car crash or a war. To make us sit still. It can be getting cancer or getting pregnant. The important part is how it seems to catch us by surprise. That disaster stops us from living the life we'd planned as children - a life of constant dashing around.”

PeopleWorldWantLooksChildrenLongStillsImportantWarEnoughSeemsYoungCarDown AndConstantSurpriseCancerSurfaceDisasterLive LifePregnantTrappedCrashWant SomethingCar CrashBelow The SurfaceDashing
Author:Chuck Palahniuk
Create image

“In the world I see you are stalking elk through the damp canyon forests around the ruins of Rock feller Center. You'll wear leather clothes that will last you the rest of your life. You'll climb the wrist-thick kudzu vines that wrap the Sears Towers. And when you look down, you'll see tiny figures pounding corn, laying stripes of venison on the empty car pool lane of some abandoned superhighways.”

WorldLooksLastsRocksCarFiguresClothesEmptyClubsTinyForestsRuinsClimbsPoolAbandonedThickTowersRest Of Your LifeCornWrapsLeatherLanesStalkingWristsVinesStripesCanyonsDampMayhemSearsElkVenison
Author:Chuck Palahniuk
Create image

“The old rule about how a thing of beauty is a joy forever, in my experience, even the most beauteous thing is only a joy for about three hours, tops. After that, she'll want to tell you all about her childhood traumas. Part of meeting these jail girls is it's so sweet to look at your watch and know she'll be behind bars in half an hour.”

KnowsWantLooksJoyGirlThreeHoursBehindsHalfWatchesForeverChildhoodSweetMeetingsTraumaBarsJailChildhood Trauma
Book:Choke: A Novel
Create image

“I love everything about Tyler Durden, his courage and his smarts. His nerve. Tyler is funny and charming and forceful and independent, and men look up to him and expect him to change their world. Tyler is capable and free, and I am not.”

MenWorldLooksCapableSmartIndependentLook UpNervesCharming
Book:You do not talk about Fight Club: I am Jack's completely unauthorized essay collection
Create image

“Jump way back to one time, Evie and me did this fashion shoot in a junk yard, in a slaughterhouse, in a mortuary. We'd go anywhere to look good by comparison, and what I realize is mostly what I hate about Evie is the fact that she's so vain and stupid and needy. But what I hate most is how she's just like me. What I really hate is me so I hate pretty much everybody.”

WayLooksFactsHateRealizingFashionStupidI HateLike MeVainComparisonOne TimeYardsJunkNeedySlaughterhousesMortuary
Book:Invisible Monsters Remix
Create image

“When you go out with a drunk, you’ll notice how a drunk fills your glass so he can empty his own. As long as you’re drinking, drinking is okay. Two’s company. Drinking is fun. If there’s a bottle, even if your glass isn’t empty, a drunk, he’ll pour a little in your glass before he fills his own. This only looks like generosity.”

IfsLooksLittlesLongTwoFunCompanyEmptyOkayDrinkingGlassesDrunkGenerosityBottles
Book:Invisible Monsters: A Novel
Create image

“I've met God across his long walnut desk with his diplomas hanging on the wall behind him, and God asks me, 'Why?' Why did I cause so much pain? Didn't I realize that each of us is a sacred, unique snowflake of special unique specialness? Can't I see how we're all manifestations of love? I look at God behind his desk, taking notes on a pad, but God's got this all wrong. We are not special. We are not crap or trash, either. We just are. We just are, and what happens just happens. And God says, 'No, that's not right.' Yeah. Well. Whatever. You can't teach God anything.”

WellsLooksLongHappensPainDeathAsksCausesRealizingBehindsTeachSpecialWallMetsUniqueYeahSacredNotesAsk MeManifestationDesksCrapTrashPadsSnowflakeHanging OnDiplomaWalnutsFight Club NovelSpecialnessFight Club Book
Author:Chuck Palahniuk
Create image

“I often need physical gesture to balance dialogue. If I write in public, every time I need to know what a character is doing with his hand or foot, I can look up and study people and find compelling gestures that I can harvest. Writing in public gives you that access to a junkyard of details all around you.”

PeopleIfsKnowsNeedsGivingWritingLooksI CanCharacterHandsStudyFeetBalanceDetailsAccessDialogueLook UpGesturesCompellingHarvestJunkyard
Author:Chuck Palahniuk
Create image