“Attention is the fundamental event. It is a tube that directs sunlight on some part of your inner garden, and not others. It is how you cultivate yourself. You are what you attend to. There is nothing more serious.”
“There is a war going on, for control of your mind. The only losers in this war are people who think the war is an exaggeration.”
“If you could drain out of your head all the information that had entered through an LCD screen, what would be left? Like ten per-cent. You’d be like a child. You would prolly even get put in a mental institution. And now, how much of that video experience is security-cam footage? Almost none. It’s all been carefully crafted for your consumption.”
“You don’t sell your car by talking about your car. You show pictures of a beautiful woman standing near your car. And you don’t sell facts by talking about facts.”
“I’m only saying that beliefs are based on narratives, and a fact is not a narrative.”
“Yeah, you know, when scientists were publishing facts about global warming, oil companies were crafting narratives. Look at the planet now. That might have been the last mistake scientists will ever make.”
Love
“Ah, I love you boys! Seriously. Tonight, okay?”
“When a beautiful woman kisses you, that’s her power. When I kiss, that’s my weakness.”
“Why did Arlin call you a sex pet?” “Pets don’t bite back, I guess.”
“There is no such thing as a stray doll.”
“I feel that the universe likes me, and that it touches me with your presence.”
“In a post-civilization world, love is a pointless luxury. People can live without love, but not without the hope of loving.”
Speed
If it were possible to sleep during a speed high, you’d dream of Tokyo.
“Anorexia does not ruin your appetite. Methylphenethylamine does. Withdrawal from anorexia means you’re eating. Withdrawal from methylphenethylamine means you’re not. I have a problem, but it’s not anorexia.”
“I can feel it now. It’s starting. I like it that you know what’s happening to me. I like the way you look at me. I like it that you like it.”
“If you get on the train to Zürich, you’re going to Zürich. Even if you were confused or mistaken or misled. There is no such thing as a false trip.”
“Some people complain about the withdrawal, but I love it. You …. don’t care because you’re too tired to care. You have this total zen perspective on everything. It’s awesome.”
YouTube
“So what do you do? YouTuber?” “That’s like calling yourself a prostitute because you have sex. You have to get paid to be a prostitute.”
“Look, Google runs YouTube the way England ran orphanages. No one blames the orphans any more. It’s mean.”
Capitalism
“Something must break. Either capitalism or civilization. And capitalism won’t give up as easily as civilization.”
“If you are watching this in a bunker or a spaceship, we’re so sorry. We tried everything we could to turn things around. But no cure was as profitable as the sickness.”
Democracy has been mankind’s finest achievement. We have finally succeeded in making the choices of foolish people equal to those of everyone else. That can happen only once in the history of a civilization.
