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Douglas Coupland

Douglas Coupland Quotes

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Famous Douglas Coupland Quotes

“In Canada, when we speak of water, we're speaking of ourselves. Canadians are known to be unextravagant, and one explanation of this might be that we know that wasted water means a diminished collective soul; polluted waters mean a sickened soul. Water is the basis of our self-identity, and when we dream of canoes and thunderstorms and streams and even snowballs, we're dreaming about our innermost selves.”

KnowsMeanSoulSelfDreamMightSpeakWaterKnownIdentityBasesExplanationStreamsCanadaCollectivesSelf IdentityThunderstormSnowball
Author:Douglas Coupland
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“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.”

ThinkingWorldWayFeelsMindLooksMayLongLinesToo MuchInformationSafePatternsRecognitionSaneEmergingConstellationsStraight LinesBlurToo Much Information
Author:Douglas Coupland
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“Back in the late 1970's, when I was fifteen years old, I spent every penny I then had in the bank to fly across the continent in a 747 jet to Brandon, Manitoba, deep in the Canadian prairies, to witness a total eclipse of the sun.”

YearsSunLateWitnessContinentsFifteenPenniesJetEclipseFifteen YearsPrairieFifteen Years OldTotal EclipseEclipse Of The Sun
Book:Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture
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“When you are young, you always expect that the world is going to end. And then you get older and the world still chugs along and you are forced to re-evaluate your stance on the apocalypse as well as your own relationship to time and death. You realize that the world will indeed continue, with or without you, and the pictures you see in your head. So you try to understand the pictures instead.”

WorldTryingWellsStillsEndsYoungRealizingApocalypseWithout YouEvaluateStance
Book:Life After God
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“You really have to wonder why we even bother to get up in the morning. I mean, really: Why work? Simply to buy more stuff? That's just not enough. Look at us all. What's the common assumption that got us all from there to here? What makes us deserve the ice cream and running shoes and wool Italian suits we have? I mean, I see all of us trying so hard to acquire so much stuff, but I can't help but feeling that we didn't merit it.”

TryingLooksMeanI CanHardEnoughHelpingFeelingsRunningStuffCommonWonderMorningDeserveShoesSuitsGet UpIceBotherMeritAssumptionAcquireItalianCreamIce CreamWoolTrying So HardRunning Shoes
Author:Douglas Coupland
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“MID-TWENTIES BREAKDOWN: A period of mental collapse occurring in one's twenties, often caused by an inability to function outside of school or structured environments coupled with a realization of one's essential aloneness in the world. Often marks induction into the ritual of pharmaceutical usage.”

WorldSchoolEnvironmentPeriodsEssentialsFunctionMarkTwentiesRealizationRitualCollapseInabilityBreakdownUsagePharmaceutical
Book:Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture
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