Mark

“to make time for everything, so that tough choices won’t be required. Or we procrastinate, which is another means of maintaining the feeling of omnipotent control over life—because you needn’t risk the upsetting experience of failing at an intimidating project, obviously, if you never even start it.”
― Oliver Burkeman, Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals

“Narcissists do show a lack of concern for others, but they are equally insensitive to their own true needs. Often their behavior is self-destructive. Moreover, when we speak of narcissists’ “self” love, we need to make a distinction. Narcissism denotes an investment in one’s image as opposed to one’s self. Narcissists love their image, not their real self. They have a poor sense of self; they are not self-directed. Instead, their activities are directed toward the enhancement of their image, often at the expense of the self.”
― Alexander Lowen, Narcissism: Denial of the True Self

“Das Messer sitzt mir an der Kehle. The knife is at my throat; I am face-to-face with doom.”
― Neal Stephenson, Cryptonomicon

“given all the other changes he’s gone through, why the hell shouldn’t he become a cigarette smoker while he’s at it? Maybe next week he’ll be shooting heroin. For something disgusting and lethal, cigarettes are amazingly enjoyable.”
― Neal Stephenson, Cryptonomicon