“The weird thing is, I'm not entirely sure that I am meant to think that such a gift is who I am according to the philosophy underlying Vedanta. But I have long been stubborn like that, for some reason. It's a gift, as I say.” ThinkingLongReasonPhilosophyWho I AmStubbornWeird ThingsVedanta Author:Quentin S. Crisp
“When we fail to live up to our ideals, for instance, we might begin to wonder who we are - most people are aware of a discrepancy, I think. There are idiosyncrasies and foibles, but we're not sure if these are essential. Some people think they are the most essential things of all.” PeopleIfsThinkingMightWonderFailingEssentialsIdealsInstanceNot SureWho We AreIdiosyncrasiesDiscrepanciesFoibles Author:Quentin S. Crisp
“I seem to be less depressed but also less hopeful now in my thirties. My widow's peak bothers me. I think a lot about the end of the human race. And so on.” ThinkingHumansEndsSeemsRaceBotherHuman RaceHopefulWidows Author:Quentin S. Crisp
“I think I'm probably too close to the seventies to be able to analyse them (it?) effectively.” ThinkingAbleSeventies Author:Quentin S. Crisp
“When I think back on it, I have a sense of relaxation, as if in the seventies no one had to try to be anyone other than who they were. I'm sure that's not really true, but that's how I remember it, and I suppose it might be relatively true.” IfsThinkingTryingMightRememberSeventiesRelaxationReally True Author:Quentin S. Crisp
“I think the seventies caught the last red rays of the dying sun of this innocence, but were already a little cold and drab.” ThinkingLittlesLastsSunDyingColdRedCaughtInnocenceRaysSeventies Author:Quentin S. Crisp
“I don't want to give too much away, but something horrible happens in 1977. That was also the year of the Queen's Silver Jubilee. I remember this jubilee. I remember receiving a commemorative coin from the school. I think it was a fifty pence piece. That was its monetary value, but it was not a normal fifty pence piece, and it would have been strange to try and use it in a shop.” ThinkingWantGivingTryingYearsHas BeensUseHappensSchoolRememberValuesToo MuchPiecesStrangeNormalHorribleQueensFiftyShopsSilverReceivingCoinsMonetaryJubileeMonetary Value Author:Quentin S. Crisp
“I think I still have [commemorative coin ] somewhere. Why was this given to me? I think every child in the country must have received one [ from Queen's Silver Jubilee]. That's the last time that I recall something of an innocent, more-or-less unquestioning monarchist patriotism in Britain.” ThinkingChildrenStillsCountryLastsGivenInnocentQueensBritainSilverRecallsLast TimeCoinsJubilee Author:Quentin S. Crisp
“People didn't talk about paedophiles in the seventies, I don't think.” PeopleThinkingSeventies Author:Quentin S. Crisp
“As children in the seventies we were told about nebulous 'strangers'. By definition, we didn't know who these strangers were, and we didn't know what they wanted to do, but only that they were sinister. I think that was the stage the seventies were at.” ThinkingKnowsChildrenWantedStageDefinitionsStrangerSeventiesSinister Author:Quentin S. Crisp
“We all know about the car breaking down on a deserted road scenario. That's cliché. I'm thinking more of Cider with Rosie, as in, the dark side.” ThinkingKnowsSidesDarkCarBreaking DownScenariosDark SideDesertedRosieCider Author:Quentin S. Crisp
“I think the natural is, for many people, the gateway to something supernatural or otherworldly.” PeopleThinkingNaturalGateways Author:Quentin S. Crisp
“The urban, on the other hand, is often seen as more real and mundane, even though it is obviously far more recent in terms of planetary development. I think this might be because nature corresponds to the unconscious and the artificial world of the city and human culture to the conscious mind.” ThinkingWorldMindHumansRealHandsMightCultureTermCitiesDevelopmentConsciousUnconsciousArtificialUrbanMundaneConscious Mind Author:Quentin S. Crisp
“I think [imagination] very austere element of Buddhism is also linked with a strong antinatalist strain in the philosophy. The Buddha was enlightened when he destroyed the house of body and soul into which he would otherwise have been forever reborn. This is clearly antinatalism.” ThinkingHas BeensSoulPhilosophyBodyHouseStrongImaginationForeverBuddhismElementsDestroyedEnlightenedLinkedStrainReborn Author:Quentin S. Crisp
“I think there's a good case for antinatalism. Stephen Hawking has told us recently that we must colonise space to survive, not long after telling us to beware of aliens because they'll probably just do to us as the conquistadors did to the native peoples of the Americas. So . . . exactly why do we want to go on and on, to go forth and multiply in a hostile final frontier? Why?” ThinkingWantLongSpaceCasesGoes OnFinalsAliensNativeHostileFrontiersConquistadors Author:Quentin S. Crisp
“I do not think that my spiritual apprehensions are as dogmatically cultural as those of many people who have been brought up strictly in a particular tradition.” PeopleThinkingHas BeensSpiritualParticularTraditionApprehension Author:Quentin S. Crisp
“I really think [William] Burroughs was onto something here, when he said, "Dreams are a biologic necessity and your lifeline into space."” ThinkingSaidDreamSpaceLifelinesBurroughs Author:Quentin S. Crisp
