Things The Grandchildren Should Know Quotes

“Life is so full of unpredictable beauty and strange surprises. Sometimes that beauty is too much for me to handle. Do you know that feeling? When something is just too beautiful? When someone says something or writes something or plays something that moves you to the point of tears, maybe even changes you.”
― Mark Oliver Everett, Things The Grandchildren Should Know

“Maybe I don't like people as much as the rest of the world seems to...But occasionally, people will pleasantly surprise me and I'll fall in love with them, so go figure.”
― Mark Oliver Everett, Things The Grandchildren Should Know

“Kids know what's going on. They always respond to The Beatles, for instance. Doesn't matter when they were born, they always seem to respond. Show me a kid who innately doesn't like The Beatles, and I'll show you a bad seed.”
― Mark Oliver Everett, Things The Grandchildren Should Know

“Maybe I don't like people as much as the rest of the world seems to. Seems like the human race is in love with itself. What kind of ego do you have to have to think that you were created in God's image? I mean, to invent the idea that God must be like us. Please. As Stanley Kubrick once pointed out, the discovery of more intelligent life somewhere other than Earth would be catastrophic to man, simply because we would no longer be able to think of ourselves as the centre of the universe. I guess I'm slowly becoming one of those crusty old cranks that thinks animals are better than people. But, occasionally, people will pleasantly surprise me and I'll fall in love with one of them, so go figure.”
― Mark Oliver Everett, Things The Grandchildren Should Know

“Thanks to my ridiculous, sometimes tragic, and always unsteady upbringing, I was given the gift of bone-crushing insecurity. One thing you’ll notice about people with mental problems is constant self-absorbation. I think that’s because it’s such a struggle just to be who they are, so they have a hard time getting past it.”
― Mark Oliver Everett, Things The Grandchildren Should Know

“Sure, I'm a weirdo in some ways. I don't like going to parties and show, I hide in my house a lot. But, all things considered, it could be a lot worse. And I'm able to get myself to this show, at least. I become aware of a feeling that has been slowly creeping in under my skin for a few years, but now has become more tangible. I'd been through a lot - I'm OK. And if I want to be, I'm better than OK. I'm certainly not the most well-adjusted person on earth, but considering everything ... I mean - I survived. And I survived just by being me. How lucky and amazing is that?”
― Mark Oliver Everett, Things The Grandchildren Should Know

“We're all fucked up, I'm thinking, and that's the truth. Everyone's got some crazy shit going on in their life and no one is living any of that fairy-tale shit that the TV made you believe life was supposed to be like when you were young”
― Mark Oliver Everett, Things The Grandchildren Should Know

“I was born the son of a humble mechanic. A quantum mechanic.”
― Mark Oliver Everett, Things The Grandchildren Should Know

“I like getting older. It's taken me this long to start to feel a little comfortable being me. Sure was a long way around to getting there, but it's what I had to do. Was either that or die, so it feels like a triumph.”
― Mark Oliver Everett, Things The Grandchildren Should Know

“I think about how angry I was that my dad didn't take better care of himself. How he never went to the doctor, let himself become grossly overweight, smoked three packs a day, drank like a fish and never exercised. But then I think about how his colleague mentioned that, days before dying, my dad had said that he had lived a good life and that he was satisfied. I realize that there is a certain value in my father's way of life. He ate, smoked and drank as he pleased, and one day he just suddenly and quickly died. Given some of the other choices I'd witnessed, it turns out that enjoying yourself and then dying quickly is not such a bad way to go.”
― Mark Oliver Everett, Things The Grandchildren Should Know

“Historically speaking, if I was in a room and there was someone in that room who could make my life an utter hell on earth, I would find that person, hope they would engage me in conversation, feel like I'd found the lost piece to my puzzle, see pictures in my head of us waking up together, our children, our adjoining burial places fifty years down the line, and I'd truly believe that it was all for the best. For some reason, God made the women I'm attracted to crazy.”
― Mark Oliver Everett, Things The Grandchildren Should Know

“Historically speaking, if I was in a room and there was someone in that room who could make my life an utter hell on earth, I would find that person, hope they would engage me in conversation, feel like I'd found the los piece to my puzzle, see pictures in my head of us waking up together, our children, our adjoining burial places fifty years down the line, and I'd truly believe that it was all for the best. For some reason, God made the women I'm attracted to crazy.”
― Mark Oliver Everett, Things The Grandchildren Should Know

“During the 'with strings' tour one night in Germany, a concertgoer calls out, "YOU ARE BORING!" between songs. He's German and he wants to rock. We play him a Scorpions riff, but it isn't enough. Again, I just don't understand why some people want everything to sound just like they expect. Life's too short for such boring predictability. You are boring, Sir.”
― Mark Oliver Everett, Things the Grandchildren Should Know

“Para mí no era un disco sobre la muerte. Verlo así era no entenderlo. Trataba sobre la vida. Y la muerte es una parte importante de la vida que por lo general intentamos fingir que no existe. A nadie le gusta pensar que su persona acabará teniendo punto final, pero yo no podía ya dejar de verlo, y a partir del momento en que empiezas a tenerlo como la verdad cotidiana que es en realidad deja de dar tanto miedo. Así, al ser más consciente de la muerte, abres nuevas perspectivas y reflexionas más sobre cómo sacarle todo el partido posible a la vida, signifique lo que signifique para ti.”
― Mark Oliver Everett, Things The Grandchildren Should Know