Quotes (Updated Sporadically)

This is an entry that will consist of quotes I come across that I like. It will be updated whenever I find one that I like. New quotes can be found at the top. (Updated December 2020)


What hurts is that I’m afraid that among those who laugh and sneer at New York are the descendants of some of the Europeans who learned how to be Americans in New York — mockers who now feel no need to repay or to pass on to others the good their parents and grandparents have received.
— Quasar, Quasar, Burning Bright

We do what we can, not what we think we should do or what we want to do.
— John Pierce

Here, then, was a picture of Claude Shannon, circa 1955: a man — slender, agile, handsome, abstracted — who rarely showed up on time for work; who often played chess or fiddled with amusing machines all day; who frequently went down the halls juggling or pogoing; and who didn’t seem to care, really, what anyone thought of him or of his pursuits. He did what was interesting. He was categorized, still, as a scientist. But it seemed obvious that he had the temperment and sensibility of an artist.
— The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation

Quaternions came from Hamilton . . . and have been an unmixed evil to those who have touched them in any way. Vector is a useless survival . . . and has never been of the slightest use to any creature.
— Lord Kelvin

Apparently, there was an S.O.B. in the solid-state group after all.
— The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation

Did the hospital specialize in poets and singers, or was it that poets and singers specialized in madness?
— Girl, Interrupted

The brick walls are there for a reason. They’re not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something.
— The Last Lecture

Just because you’re in the driver’s seat doesn’t mean you have to run people over.
— The Last Lecture

. . . it appears that the whole of the conditions which enable a finite machine to make calculations of unlimited extent are fulfilled in the Analytical Engine. . . I have converted the infinity of space, which was required by the conditions of the problem, into the infinity of time
— Charles Babbage, The Origins of Digital Computers

All of the books in the world contain no more information than is broadcast as video in a single large city in a single year. Not all bits have equal value.
— Carl Sagan

I noticed vaguely that I was getting so’s I could see some good in the life around me.
— One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Because he knows you have to laugh at the things that hurt you just to keep yourself in balance, just to keep the world from running you plumb crazy.
— One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Their hearts pound. Eardrums brushed taut by the overpressure ring in pain. The invisible train rushes away close over the rooftop. . . . They sit still as the painted dogs now, silent, oddly unable to touch. Death has come in the pantry door: stands watching them, iron and patient, with a look that says try to tickle me.
— Gravity's Rainbow, Thomas Pynchon

And she remembered how her mother said, When you’re big, Elizabeth, you’ll know hurt, but it won’t be the kind of hurt you think. It’ll be a hurt that can’t be reached with a curing kiss.
— To a God Unknown, John Steinbeck

I am afraid to change, she said. I want to, and I am afraid. Will I get stout, do you think? All in a moment will I be another person, remembering Elizabeth as an acquaintance who’s dead?
I don’t know, he said, edging his finger into a pleat at the shoulder of her shirtwaist. Perhaps there isn’t any change, ever, in anything. Perhaps unchangeable things only pass.
— To a God Unknown, John Steinbeck

It would be a place to run to, away from pain or sorrow or disappointment or fear, he thought. But I have no such need now. I have none of these things to run from. I must remember this place though. If ever there’s need to lose some plaguing thing, that will be the place to go.
— To a God Unknown, John Steinbeck

Alsing often heard West talk about flying upside down. It seemed to mean taking larger risks, and the ways in which West used the phrase left Alsing in no doubt that flying upside down was supposed to be a desirable activity — the very stuff of a vigorous life.
— The Soul of a New Machine

What really annoys me, I mean what really galls me are the cops. Typical fascist pigs. They’re the same cops that killed the students at Kent State, that torture people in Korea and South Africa. Its the same mentality that build the concentration camps. But try and get these stuffed middle-class —-ooooo, it just infuriates me. We would be watching the news and be seeing the cops beating people over the head with their clubs and my mother and father would claim it wasn’t really happening or they were some sort of hippie degenerate commies. That’s the big thing with them. Everybody’s a commie. Talk about freedom and human rights and you’re a commie. All they want to talk about is the sacred right of the stockholder and how the police protect our property. . . She took a deep breath, closed her eyes for a moment, then looked at Harry. You know, if I were to tell them about this they’d say it didn’t happen, that I just made it up. She shook her head, It just amazes me how blind some people can be to the truth. It’s right there in front of them and they don’t see it. It just amazes me.
— Requiem for a Dream

In the same vein, Jean-Paul Sartre, the French philosopher and writer, called genius “the brilliant invention of someone who is looking for a way out.”
— A Beautiful Mind

I must have looked blank. “No matter how perfect the thing,” he continued patiently, “the moment it’s created it begins to be destroyed.”
— Rocket Boys, on entropy

Sometimes somebody would say in his presence, “Excuse me, I have to take a leak.” This was a way of saying that the speaker intended to drain liquid wastes from his body through a valve in his lower abdomen. And Trout would reply waggishly, “Where I come from, that means you’re about to steal a mirror.”
— Breakfast of Champions

One day I was talking to Cora. She prayed for me because she believed I was blind to sin, wanting me to kneel and pray too, because people to whom sin is just a matter of words, to them salvation is just words too.
— As I Lay Dying

There are about a billion ways a rocket launch can go wrong, and about one way it can go right.
— A Rocket Documentary I Can't Quite Place

The only way it would have become any different is if we had said to ourselves, “But those other people have it better, because they might live fifty years.” But that’s crazy. Why make yourself miserable saying things like, “Why do we have such bad luck? What has God done to us? What have we done to deserve this?” - all of which, if you understand reality and take it completely into your heart, are irrelevant and unsolvable. They are just things that nobody can know. Your situation is just an accident of Life
— Richard Feynman

Because once a thing is set to happen, all you can do is hope it won’t. Or will—depending. As long as you live, there’s always something waiting, and even if it’s bad, and you know it’s bad, what can you do? You can’t stop living.
— Perry Smith, In Cold Blood

Goodness, no. I just love her to death. Well, everybody does. There isn’t anybody like Nancy. Do you know what Mrs. Stringer says?” said Jolene, naming her home-economics teacher. “One day she told the class, ‘Nancy Clutter is always in a hurry, but she always has the time. And that’s one definition of a lady.’
— In Cold Blood, Truman Capote

And I remember that my mother would say to me when I was in my really low moments she would say, “There’s Ang Lee and he didn’t make his first film until he was in his 30s,” and at the time she said, “You’re much younger than that so you still have plenty of time, and we will support you.”

And that meant so much to me to have my parents’ support. I don’t think I could have continued to push through with the first feature and the many shorts that I did without their support. Because you fall and you fall and you fall, and my parents are so important to me that if they didn’t say that, I might’ve just said, “No, I think I’m causing them too much pain pursuing what I want to pursue.” But because of Ang Lee, my mom could use him as a reference. It gave my whole family the hope that I can one day do the same.
— Lulu Wang, NPR 2019

The Farewell (2019)

This review will be split into two parts; the first consisting of my initial thoughts prior to the premiere, and the second being my reaction thereafter.

Before the Premiere

I initially saw the trailer for this movie back in May, when I saw it linked somewhere on Twitter.

I was immediately drawn in. The trailer had a light and airy feel to it, yet it left your chest a bit tighter than when you began it. The end of the trailer is particularly moving, and includes the song Power Hungry Animals by The Apache Relay, which is the perfect combination of righteous triumph and dramatic inflection. It conveys to you that this film will have a happy ending, but there will be a lot of emotional strife along the way to get there. The trailer was beautiful, and tucked it away in the back of my mind; a simple mental note to go see when it would be in theaters in July.

Fast-forward a month or so, and I was getting targeted ads on Instagram, detailing a special showing of the film at a hotel in LA, with a Q&A afterwards. I jumped on the opportunity, and bought three tickets, so my mom, sister and I could go see it a week or so before the release. Today, June 26th, marks the special day, and I am very excited to see Lulu Wang’s film. That being said, there are a couple thoughts that have been circling in my mind, leading up to the premiere.

One. I didn’t expect this from myself because I don’t get attached to specific actors, but I am incredibly excited to see Awkwafina in a more dramatic role. After seeing Ocean’s 8 (2018), and Crazy Rich Asians (2018), I know that she can effectively bring comedy to the table. Even when looking at her past musical repertoire as a rapper, her comedic side always shines through. Everything is very fun, very happy, and always has a punchline. However, like Steve Carell, I think Awkwafina could have a great dramatic career, with this role being a turning point. While there are still light-hearted and comedic parts in this role, I think the familial aspect, when juxtaposed with the obvious internal strife her character endures, will allow for this to be one of Awkwafina’s landmark roles. As a fan of her music and other movies, I am very excited to see this new facet of her talents.

Two. This is a true story; it’s Lulu Wang’s experience regarding her own grandmother(as detailed in a May 2016 story of NPR’s This American Life). Now, I’m a sucker for movie realism. While I respect the use of certain cinematic elements to portray how a character is feeling, I love when a movie is entirely plausible. To me, it heightens its effect, and causes it to stick in my mind longer. When something feels like it can happen to you, or your mom, or your neighbor across the street, it creates a connection between the audience and the movie that creates an emotional impact that goes beyond watching a movie about something supernatural. As a rebuttal to my own point, implausible movies can be made fantastic by having realistic human interactions or themes within them, like in the Star Wars franchise. . . but I digress. What I am trying to say is, I think that Lulu Wang will bring something special to the table when it comes to this movie, because it is essentially a snapshot of her life. My hope is that, this movie will feel like peering into someone’s life, as opposed to looking at a screen.

Three. While my own personal experience is not the same as Lulu Wang’s I am very excited to see the dynamic between a family grounded in Asia and the US. While the Asian side of my family has all moved out of China, I was still able to relate to some aspects of the Americanized granddaughter-old Asian grandma dynamic. Beyond that, the overall inclusion of the differences between Asian culture and Western Culture seemed very interesting. There was one instance in the trailer in which one of Awkwafina’s character’s relatives scolds her for being selfish, and that in the East they view a person as a part of a whole, instead of as an individual. This sparked my own internal debate, because there are obvious draws to both. Being an individual means courage, self confidence, and in a way, freedom. Being a part of something greater than oneself allows a sense of community, humbleness, and empathy. I will definitely need to look into that more. Like most issues, I have a feeling the answer will draw a little bit from both sides.

Four. An anecdote. When discussing this film with my family, we came to two conclusions: 1) The grandma looks like and has the exact disposition of my mother’s mother, and 2) My dad’s family(who is white) actually engaged in this shielding the family from death behavior too. For my dad’s family, it was kind of the reverse of the movie, where the sick person and their immediate family would know of the illness, and no one else would. Then, the person would suddenly drop dead, for a reason unbeknownst to the rest of the family, which in a way puts all the burden on the ill person. Thankfully, they don’t do this anymore.

As I have said many times in this article already, I am very excited to see this film. I’ll report back tomorrow after seeing the film.

After the Premiere

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There are certain movies I hold on to over time. Films such as Good Will Hunting (1997) are my go-to for realistic dramatic relationships. Films like The Theory of Everything (2014) and La La Land (2016) will always stick out in my mind as having some of the greatest soundtracks ever paired with a movie. Films like Hidden Figures (2016) made me tear up, films like Booksmart (2019) made me laugh endlessly.

Never, have I ever, encountered a film that has perfectly encapsulated all of these themes.

To begin, the music was stunning. A mix of joyous and loud Mandarin songs and light contemporary classical pieces, it was never in-your-face but always felt. The tone of the music would rise and fall with the tone of the movie, and made you feel connected to what was happening on screen. I am tempted to attribute this to Lulu Wang, since she was originally trained as a pianist, but that accolade goes to Alex Weston, who organized all the music.

Secondly, the color grading, transitions, and shots were gorgeous. The best way I can describe it is as a work of art. In one scene, we were whisked from Awkwafina’s character being in a subway, to seeing someone that resembled Nai Nai, all the way to her flying to and landing in China. It was maybe only 20 or 30 seconds, but it perfectly dealt with the time that had elapsed, without leaving the audience clueless as to what had happened.

Next up: this movie is hilarious. As someone with a little old Asian grandma, I can proudly say they did a great job. There were so many moments, like when Nai Nai is urging Billi (Awkwafina) to eat, or is scolding her housemate Mr. Li, in which I saw my own grandma reflected in the film. In addition, the whole cast does a great job, which I found out at the premiere was not what they had had in mind. The actor for Billi’s dad Haiyan (Tzi Ma) remarked in the Q&A afterwards that he was initially very surprised after watching the film for the first time, because he had not thought it would be so funny. He had expected it to be purely a drama, which is also a compliment to Wang’s work, because she was able to use her style to convey these comedic aspects. And, I must add, these comedic aspects are a a great addition to the film. I specifically remember one scene, in which Billi is having a tense exchange with her mom about the whole ordeal of lying to Nai Nai. The tension is palpable, and there is a slight pause, when Billi’s dad, who is drunk, rolls over on the bed the mom is sitting on, and remarks how loud they are being. At this, the whole theater erupted in laughter. Moments like these made you smile when you thought you were just about to cry, and served as reminders forgive, forget, and look at the glass as half full, as opposed to half empty.

As I mentioned above, there were certainly some tense moments that stemmed from the intertwined relationships in the family. We see Billi’s dad Haiyan pick up drinking and smoking again with his brother, as they begin to be more and more troubled by the prospect of their mom dying. We see Billi’s mom Jian arguing for the benefits of America, as she is attacked for having left China. And finally, as I had hoped before the premiere, we see Awkwafina in an amazing dramatic performance. Her character Billi is extremely relatable, and her emotion and wit shine through in every scene. From her heart-felt talks with Nai Nai to her sarcastic quips, she has a wonderful range that really shines through in this film.

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While I had predicted Awkwafina’s success as a dramatic actor, I had no idea of what the ending would be. Like most people, I thought the grandma would probably die. And it would be sad, but they would all celebrate her life, and maybe find out in some way that she knew what they were doing all along.

This however, was the complete opposite, because the real Nai Nai is still alive, now over 6 years later. And, as a cherry on top, she still has no idea she was ever sick. Lulu Wang commented in the Q&A that on top of never knowing she was sick, Nai Nai doesn’t even know the content of the film, despite it being shot in her hometown.

While she may not know the content of the film, I am very happy that she knows of her granddaughter’s success. A large plot line through out the film is that Billi’s artistic career seems to be failing; at the beginning of the film she gets rejected from a fellowship at the Guggenheim, and is running low on cash. In one scene at the end of the movie, Billi laments that she feels stuck, and kind of like a failure, to which Nai Nai replies that she has full confidence that Billi will succeed. And so, with Billi representing Lulu, one can imagine that at the same time in her life, Lulu was struggling too. And so it makes me so happy to know that her Nai Nai saw her succeed.

In a word, this film is fantastic, and seeing it premiere is something I don’t think I will ever forget. Being able to hear Lulu Wang, Awkwafina, Tzi Ma, Diana Lin, and Aoi Mizuhara speak was a true gift, and incredibly inspiring. As a movie that is 75% in mandarin and is subtitled in English, I know it will break records and barriers when released across America. Most importantly, I hope it will set a precedent to be followed that specific stories about minorities can find creative success, and that they should be encouraged.

Fight Club (1999)

This movie has lingered in the back of my mind in the week or so that has passed since I watched it. It may be one of the most thought-provoking movies I’ve ever seen. Here’s what I thought:

What type of movie even is it?

All throughout the movie I was stumped. Is this a dark comedy? Is this a horror film? A thriller? A drama? A romance? Even now I cannot place my finger on exactly what it is. Scenes such as Bob’s grotesquely maimed head resurface in my mind, and make me think, ‘Yes, this is a horror film disguised as a dramatic dark comedy’. Then, I remember the almost heart-warming romance that the movie begins and ends upon. If you take the fact that Tyler Durden and the Narrator are the same person, the entire movie is about Marla and the Narrator. I guess what I am trying to say, in a very convoluted way, is that Fight Club fits into none of these boxes perfectly, which one of the reasons it is so great. I had never seen a movie before that didn’t perfectly fit into an already predefined space. I think I was on the edge of my seat the entire time this movie played because it had elements of all of my favorite genres, which allowed it to never have a boring moment.

When was the climax?

This was another question I couldn’t get out of my mind. If we think of the typical view of dramatic structure, as outlined by Freytag’s Pyramid, one could argue that the film ends on its own climax. This being, because mere minutes after the Narrator rids himself of Tyler, the 10 financial buildings around him explode; nothing is resolved, the audience is left in the chaos he was trying to escape. This view also would say that most of the movie is exposition. Alternatively, we could say that the inciting incident, instead of being something like realizing Tyler is him, is something like his apartment being blown out. Then, the rising action is the creation of Fight Club, and the terrorist group. The complication then would be realizing he is Tyler, with the climax being their standoff. In this case, the reversal would be the Narrator shooting himself, with the falling action being Marla and all of the henchmen coming up to the viewpoint he is stationed at. Finally, the resolution(or perhaps lack thereof) would be the Narrator and Marla watching the financial towers fall, as he bleeds from his shot-out cheek.

If I’m being honest, the latter makes more sense and is more well defined. However, I prefer the first version, in which the film ends at the climax, because that is how it felt to the audience. Nothing feels resolved, nothing feels like it is tied up with a nice bow. The audience is left feeling the chaos of the world they are looking into, which is why I prefer to see the end of the movie as the climax of the entire story.

The details make all the difference.

The small touches throughout the entire movie make it so much better. Let me explain.

The first thing I noticed was a manipulated FBI warning that played at the beginning of my DVD. It looks just like a normal one you might see on a DVD from that time, but it lingers just long enough for you to read it and realize that it is off. As soon as you catch on to the fact that it is not normal, it disappears, leaving you wondering if you read that wrong. Just like the Narrator, you begin to question your surroundings.

Second, are the tiny blips of Tyler we see flash upon the screen during the initial expository information given about the Narrator. For those who don’t know about the final twist, they are puzzled. They can clearly recognize Brad Pitt, if only for a split second, so why is he there? They then however forget about his appearance for the rest of the movie, until the twist is revealed, at which point their memory serves them and these images come flooding back to them. Brilliant.

Third, are all the hints we get that tip us off to the fact that Tyler and the Narrator are the same person. My favorite is from a scene in which Tyler is sleeping with Marla, and the Narrator comes to the door. Tyler opens it, and they have a brief exchange, at the end of which Marla says ‘Who are you talking to?’. Even though Marla should be able to clearly see who Tyler is talking to, she doesn’t, because she can’t. This is another moment that subtly tips off the audience.

Lastly, the spliced in pornographic image that runs at the very end of the film. It’s a nice touch, that references Tyler’s rebellious acts from when he worked at movie theaters. Like the initial FBI gag, its a great detail to include that shows the effort that was put into the film.

The style and actors are perfect.

When I initially watched the trailer, like most people, I was drawn in by Brad Pitt. He seems like a likable tough-guy, who is the center of the story. However, after reading the book, I became aware of the fact that Edward Norton’s character is actually the focal point. And he does it wonderfully. I think I fell in love with his portrayal of the Narrator because it was so relatable. Even though Edward Norton is this amazing actor, he is able to encapsulate the lengths ones mind goes to to circumvent the boredom and depression of everyday life.

In addition to Norton, as I mentioned, Brad Pitt is a big-hitter. I was surprised by how much I liked Tyler Durden; this is most likely due to Pitt’s excellent delivery of Durden’s highly quotable lines. Despite this though, I found myself not missing his absence or feeling bad once the Narrator had disposed of him. This is amazing work on Pitt’s and the screenwriters’ parts, since Durden is such a likable character. It’s amazing that they were able to make him so likable but that I didn’t miss him once he was gone.

Finally, Helena Bonham Carter as Marla was fantastic. She was the perfect actress for this role, and the way she fluctuates between moods within the film perfectly matches what I had envisioned while reading the book.

It does stray from the book.

But it does this for the better. While there are minor details missing, such as how in the book, the soap is made specifically from Marla’s mother’s liposuctioned fat, I found myself not missing them. I think the stream-lining they did for the film serves the overall purpose of the story well, and that it was a good cut-down. I also prefer the ending to the movie, since it emphasizes the chaos of the entire story, and leaves it more open-ended. In turn, the ending of the book, which leaves the Narrator in a mental hospital that he thinks is Heaven, left me with more questions than I wanted to answer. Thinking about the ending of the movie is enthralling; thinking about the ending of the book is saddening and puzzling.

This is one of the best movies I’ve ever seen.

I envision myself watching this film many more times in the years to come. It was that good. My only regret is that I wasn’t born in time to see it in a movie theater, since I imagine it would have been a fantastic experience; to be on the cusp of a new century in 1999, wondering if the world was going to end, and watching this movie that embraced the chaos and reaction to monotony that everyone was suffering from.

If you watch one movie today, watch Fight Club.

Fight Club by Chuck Palahnuik

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This review/discussion is going to contain spoilers, so I would recommend to have read Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk before continuing on, if you would like to preserve the mystery of the novel.

I, however, had this mystery divulged to me before I had the pleasure of reading the book, which is how I first learned that the soap is made from the liposuctioned fat of the elite class, and that Tyler Durden is just a split personality of the main character who never assumes an actual name, thus allowing for him to be anyone.

Even though I knew the main twist of the novel, I still fell in love with it. The novel is fast-paced and exciting; as the reader you jump from scene to scene, and are instantly thrown into a situation that often involves mass chaos, violence, or giving a metaphorical or literal middle finger to the elite. It keeps you dialed in, and feeling like you’re going full throttle up the hill on a roller coaster, prepared to fall off the big drop at any moment. This style also caters to the overall tone of the book, which can best be described as dirty, dank, exposed, and honest. This world is painted in extremes, where the elites eat the most lavish delicacies and have the nicest toys while the rest of the world is destined to ruminate in the gutter. It caters to everyone’s individual shortcomings, and diverts them to fit into the narrative of a beaten down person living a life they never wanted, doing what they can to wait for the minutes to run out.

In a word, it’s fantastic how Palahniuk’s writing can transport you into this psyche.


If you don’t know what you want, you end up with a lot you don’t.
— Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk

Besides the quality of the writing, the content it conveys is also very important. It addresses the emptiness left in the hearts of the workers of a capitalist society, as well as the search men go through to find a father figure that they can use to rebel against their birth father, should they have them. It grapples with the struggle for masculinity, as embodied in the split personality that is Tyler Durden. It spits at the feet of the elite socialites it criticizes, while pointing out the hypocrisy of the ‘space monkeys’ as they too blindly follow a new goal(the only difference being, it’s a new goal).

As someone with high hopes and aspirations, I often wonder why I want these things. Is it for money? Because it is what I was told in school? Because it is what I was told will make me happy? Or a combination of all three of these questions and an infinite number more?

I don’t know. But books like this get you to thinking about questions like these, and make you almost buy into the life that the narrator/Tyler Durden led, until you remember its one lived in a dilapidated house filled with bags of liposuctioned fat doing jobs you hate by day and carrying out domestic terrorism homework assignments by night. And so you remember, this world you just read about is now yours, and the life you live and the happiness derived from it is determined by yourself.

Or you brush past all of these allusions to a failing society and you think huh, maybe I should take up boxing.


A moment was the most you could ever expect from perfection.
— Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk

One of the reasons I think this book ascended to the status it did is because of its quotability. I’ve scattered some of my favorites throughout this review, but I am not lying when I say you can find a prolific quote on nearly every page. All of the language has meaning; nothing is ever said for the sake of being said.

The quote below is one of my favorites, and it comes from the Afterword in my copy. I like it, because after having read a novel about an anarchist it emphasizes the importance and reward of good honest work, presumably in a society that will recognize you for it.


Being tired isn’t the same as being rich, but most times it’s close enough.
— Chuck Palahniuk

Finally, the last quote below stuck out to me, because it reflects my generation’s struggle with climate change. Here we are, left with a problem created by a generation we never knew, that became exacerbated by the generation we came from. This great problem, which we are now tasked to fix with some miraculous answer, that I hope we can figure out. I found it really interesting that Palahniuk references the struggle between humans and our planet, especially since the novel was published in 1996. Especially since now in 2019 even, climate change is still a disputed topic, it is nice to see that it was so aptly conveyed over 20 years ago.


For thousands of years, human beings had screwed up and trashed and crapped on this planet, and now history expected me to clean up after everyone. I have to wash out and flatten my soup cans. And account for every drop of used motor oil.
And I have to foot the bill for nuclear waste and buried gasoline tanks and landfilled toxic sludge dumped a generation before I was born.
— Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk

In conclusion, if you don’t like to read, love to read, are bored with books, are bored with life, are in love with life, etc, make sure to read this book.