Choice, I've always believed, is all that separates us from animals. Dennis Lehane More Quotes by Dennis Lehane More Quotes From Dennis Lehane Happiness doesn't lie in conspicuous consumption and the relentless amassing of useless crap. Happiness lies in the person sitting beside you and your ability to talk to them. Happiness is clear-headed human interaction and empathy. Happiness is home. And home is not a house-home is a mythological conceit. It is a state of mind. A place of communion and unconditional love. It is where, when you cross its threshold, you finally feel at peace. Dennis Lehane unconditional-love home lying She smiled darkly and shook her head. 'I'm not crazy. I'm not. Of course what else would a crazy person claim? That's the Kafkaesque genius of it all. If you're not crazy but people have told the world you are, then all your protests to the contrary just underscore their point. Do you see what I'm saying? Dennis Lehane genius crazy people He wanted to ask her what sound a heart made when it broke from pleasure, when just the sight of someone filled you the way food, blood, and air never could, when you felt as if you'd been born for only one moment and this, for whatever reason, was it. Dennis Lehane sight heart love Narrative becomes the way you make sense of chaos. That's how you focus the world. It's the only reason you should ever try this writing job. Dennis Lehane focus writing jobs I have a lot of rage about things that didn't happen to me, tied up with watching an immigrant, working-class father struggle to make his way through the world - and seeing how society was modeled to keep him in his place. Dennis Lehane struggle class father It's hard to close the door on optimistic expectations when you love someone. Dennis Lehane optimistic expectations doors Happiness comes in moments, & then it's gone until the next time. Could be years. But sadness settles it. Dennis Lehane sadness gone years In Greek tragedy, they fall from great heights. In noir, they fall from the curb. Dennis Lehane tragedy greek fall There are so many more important things to worry about than how you're perceived by strangers. Dennis Lehane important self-esteem worry There's something ugly about the flawless. Dennis Lehane flawless ugly The best thing that can happen to people entering creative professions is the dwindling of all other possibilities. Dennis Lehane entering creative people The foundation of your life is luck. Hard work and talent make up the difference. Dennis Lehane differences hard-work luck The world according to Bubba is simple - if it aggravates you, stop it. By whatever means necessary. Dennis Lehane simple mean world The world does not have tidy endings. The world does not have neat connections. It is not filled with epiphanies that work perfectly at the moment that you need them. Dennis Lehane neat-and-tidy connections doe I believe so deeply in the primacy of language, in lifting your prose to the highest level you're capable of and making your words symphonic. Dennis Lehane levels language believe I normally can't stand vice-free people. They conflate a narcissistic instinct for self-preservation with moral superiority. Plus, they suck the life right out of a party. Dennis Lehane party self people There are threads in our lives. You pull one, and everything else gets affected. Dennis Lehane thread our-lives affected This world can only give me reminders of what I don't have, can never have, didn't have for long enough. Dennis Lehane giving long world I love to write, so it rarely seems like work - even when it gets arduous. Dennis Lehane seems writing Your first family is your blood family and you always be true to that. That means something. But there's another family and that's the kind you go out and find. Maybe even by accident sometimes. And they're as much blood as your first family. Maybe more so, because they don't have to look out for you and they don't have to love you. They choose to. Dennis Lehane love-you mean blood
