The Painting of Porcupine City Quotes

“It's not about who you sleep with, or whether you know about sports or tools or have a pearl-wearing wife or whether commercials make you cry. [...] it's about whether you step up. When something hard comes along. A man steps up. He doesn't dodge it or run away from it or try to push it onto someone else. He steps up. Even if it isn't his responsibility. And that's why there are so many guys and so few men. Because stepping up is hard.”
― Ben Monopoli, The Painting of Porcupine City

“Fiction is true. It doesn’t have to factual to be true.”
― Ben Monopoli, The Painting of Porcupine City

“And that’s the best we can hope for from art, you know? That it changes you for the better. That it lights up the world a little bit.”
― Ben Monopoli, The Painting of Porcupine City

“Practically every guy is the perfect guy the first night, so why ever bother with a second?”
― Ben Monopoli, The Painting of Porcupine City

“A painter,” he said, as though the word were an insult. “I’m a writer.”
“You’re a writer? I’m a writer.”
“What do you write?”
“Stories. Books. A book. Fiction.”
“Fiction. Pfft. That’s not writing.”
“What do you write?”
“I write the truth.”
“Fiction is true. It doesn’t have to be factual to be true.”
“Says you. Have you been published?”
“As a matter of fact I have. My novel sold over 65,000 copies.”
“All to your mom.”
“My mom didn’t even know about it.”
― Ben Monopoli, The Painting of Porcupine City

“I knew from the first moment I saw him that I’d never turn down anything this guy asked of me.”
― Ben Monopoli, The Painting of Porcupine City