“If you were wise enough to know that this life would consist mostly of letting go of things you wanted, then why not get good at the letting go, rather than the trying to have?” IfsKnowsTryingEnoughWantedWiseLetting GoThis LifeWhy Not Book:The First Bad Man Source: The First Bad Man
“I'm always just trying to get the work done so that I can be free - like, with the sense that, like, the real me has no interest in this? I just gotta do it for my boss. But the catch is that I'm never free, I never finish the work, so I don't know who this freewheeling employee with extracurricular interests is.” KnowsTryingI CanRealDoneInterestEmployeeBossWork DoneReal Me Author:Miranda July
“I like embracing kind of normal forms but am always trying to approach them as if no one's ever done that before. As if I'm literally the first person to ever write a book.” IfsWritingTryingFirstsKindPersonsBookDoneFormNormalApproachAlways TryingFirst Person Author:Miranda July
“I guess like any writer or screenwriter I'm alone in my own world so much of the time that I'm often trying to force myself out of my world. Into more risk. A less controlled kind of inspiration. I'm so keenly aware of how easy it's getting to not leave the house, with Amazon, especially.” WorldTryingKindInspirationHouseForceEasyMy OwnRiskControlledAmazonScreenwritersMy Own World Author:Miranda July
“The life you live in front of an audience is like an altered state - it's not totally real. I'm always, even in the course of one day, trying to find ways to balance both sides.” WayTryingRealStatesCoursesSidesAudienceFrontsBalanceOne DayBoth SidesAlteredAltered States Author:Miranda July
“When you're trying to create something and you need to hang out, in not knowing, in all the cracks and spaces where you feel lost, and you need to endure them, and have new ideas come out of that emptiness, well, the Internet is what we do when we feel lost, you know? Like, you go online or you check your email when you don't know what to do next, and so it's not helpful, in that sense.” KnowsNeedsFeelsTryingWellsIdeasNextLostSpaceKnowingLike YouInternetEndureChecksEmptinessOnlineHelpfulHanging OutCracksNot KnowingNew IdeasEmailLost You Author:Miranda July
“I think titles are tricky because they're like a really short ad for the book. And like an ad, they should open the door in a way that might be more accessible than the book itself. So I always like titles to be familiar. I'm not trying to break ground with the title itself. The title should feel like something already celebrated.” ThinkingTryingBookBreakFamiliarTricky Author:Miranda July
“Are you angry? Punch a pillow. Was it satisfying? Not hardly. These days people are too angry for punching. What you might try is stabbing. Take an old pillow and lay it on the front lawn. Stab it with a big pointy knife. Again and again and again. Stab hard enough for the point of the knife to go into the ground. Stab until the pillow is gone and you are just stabbing the earth again and again, as if you want to kill it for continuing to spin, as if you are getting revenge for having to live on this planet day after day, alone.” PeopleIfsWantTryingHardEnoughBigsMightEarthGoneFrontsPlanetsAngryLaysRevengeThese DaysSatisfyingKnivesAgain And AgainContinuingPillowLawnsPunchingStabbingGetting Revenge Author:Miranda July
“Sometimes I lie in bed trying to decide which of my friends I truly care about, and I always come to the same conclusion: none of them. I thought these were just my starter friends and the real ones would come along later. But no. These are my real friends.” TryingRealSometimesCareLyingBedMy FriendsConclusionReal FriendsReal OnesStarters Book:No One Belongs Here More Than You: Stories Source: No One Belongs Here More Than You: Stories
“We humans are here because nothing can be perfect. There always have to be some living things that are unsatisfied, itchy, trying too hard. If it was all just animals and rocks and lettuce, the gods wouldn't feel like they had enough to do.” IfsFeelsTryingHumansHardEnoughPerfectAnimalRocksLiving ThingsHad EnoughUnsatisfiedLettuceTrying Too HardItchy Author:Miranda July
