The Caretaker Quotes

“The child cast out of the village will burn it down to feel its warmth.”
― Marcus Kliewer, The Caretaker

“Fuck the sun. Give me rain, give me clouds, give me a dreary day inside with nothing to do but curl up on the couch, play video games, and rewatch Over the Garden Wall.”
― Marcus Kliewer, The Caretaker

“And I’m not proud of it, but there’s a part of me—deep down, festering in a dark and squalid room—that wants everyone else to feel just as miserable as I do. At least it wouldn’t be so goddamn lonely.”
― Marcus Kliewer, The Caretaker

“It made me think about this thing I learned on Discovery Channel: "phantom limb syndrome." It's where people who've lost a limb continue to feel its sensations - the bone, the skin, even the pain. But then they look down, only to be reminded there's nothing there, and the sensations vanish. I figure losing a person might be similar. The brain gets so used to someone being around, it tells you they're still here, even when they're gone and never coming back. Phantom person syndrome.”
― Marcus Kliewer, The Caretaker

“When it starts pouring out of nowhere, and you’re gonna get soaked no matter what, don’t scramble for cover. Just walk. Focus on what you can control. Accept the fact that you’re gonna get drenched, feel whatever you’re feeling. Focus on one breath at a time. In through the nose, out through the mouth.”
― Marcus Kliewer, The Caretaker

“It doesn’t matter how deep your pain is, how much you wish you could’ve said one last thing to somebody before they disappeared forever… None of that matters. The world keeps on moving. The errands and the debt and the dishes, it all keeps on piling up.”
― Marcus Kliewer, The Caretaker

“I used to think everyone else felt as miserable as I did—that it was normal to wake up each morning and think: Shit, again?”
― Marcus Kliewer, The Caretaker

“It’s when I feel safe that I start to feel scared. Like that feeling you get on a warm summer day when the lake water is just right, so you hold your breath and dive in and swim as far as you can before coming to surface, and when you take that first breath you feel like, for just a moment, everything is as it should be, like nothing in the world is wrong or ever could be wrong again, only for a disembodied voice to tap you on the shoulder and whisper sweetly into your water-plugged ear: Not to worry, child, things will all turn terrible again soon enough, not to worry one bit. I don’t know, maybe that’s just me.”
― Marcus Kliewer, The Caretaker

“But every time I locked eyes with someone, I started overthinking: How long is too long? Should I blink? Am I blinking too much? Why did they stop talking? Oh, they just asked me a question, and I wasn’t even listening.”
― Marcus Kliewer, The Caretaker

“Hold me close, warm my bones, tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies.”
― Marcus Kliewer, The Caretaker

“Macy, I’m going to put this as politely as I can: if you take this job, you’re a stupid fucking idiot.”
― Marcus Kliewer, The Caretaker

“Sometimes the sky was gray for so long I forgot it was actually blue. But I never minded that part. I like “bad” weather. I like waking up to the sound of rain hitting the window. Makes me feel less guilty being a miserable wretch all the time. The sun is an overzealous extrovert,”
― Marcus Kliewer, The Caretaker

“The petunias rustled again, and out hopped a chocolate-brown rabbit. It was nibbling away on a stolen petal. Fight the system, I guess.”
― Marcus Kliewer, The Caretaker

“Names gave malevolent things a shape, gave them a place in his mind to settle. It was the bumps in the night from the things he could not name that kept him awake.”
― Marcus Kliewer, The Caretaker

“I could barely put one foot in front of the other, only for Pharrell Williams to start chirping over the store-wide speakers. Because I'm happy. Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth. On the days I could barely drag myself out of bed. That song made me want to stick steak knives in my ears.”
― Marcus Kliewer, The Caretaker

“I like waking up to the sound of rain hitting the window. Makes me feel less guilty being a miserable wretch all the time. The sun is an overzealous extrovert”
― Marcus Kliewer, The Caretaker

“Phantom person syndrome.”
― Marcus Kliewer, The Caretaker

“Goodness and good looks aren’t the same thing.”
― Marcus Kliewer, The Caretaker

“It's when I feel safe that I start to feel scared. Like that feeling you get on a warm summer day when the lake water is just right, so you hold your breath and dive in and swim as far as you can before coming to surface, and when you take that first breath you feel like, for just a moment, everything is as it should be, like nothing in the world is wrong or ever could be wrong again, only for a disembodied voice to tap you on the shoulder and whisper sweetly in your ear: Not to worry, child, things will all turn terrible again soon enough, not to worry one bit.”
― Marcus Kliewer, The Caretaker

“DON’T LOOK. Those two words just about summed up the entirety of my financial planning.”
― Marcus Kliewer, The Caretaker

“It made me think about this thing I learned on Discovery Channel: “phantom limb syndrome.” It’s where people who’ve lost a limb continue to feel its sensations—the bone, the skin, even the pain. But then they look down, only to be reminded there’s nothing there, and the sensations vanish. I figure losing a person might be similar. The brain gets so used to someone being around, it tells you they’re still here, even when they’re gone and never coming back.”
― Marcus Kliewer, The Caretaker

“The spider kept trying to climb the glass, only for the wind to knock it back down, make it start from scratch. Relatable.”
― Marcus Kliewer, The Caretaker

“Soon enough this existential rumination turned to a bitter hostility at the world in general. It doesn’t matter how deep your pain is, how much you wish you could’ve said one last thing to somebody before they disappeared forever… None of that matters. The world keeps on moving. The errands and the debt and the dishes, it all keeps on piling up.”
― Marcus Kliewer, The Caretaker

“I like “bad” weather. I like waking up to the sound of rain hitting the window. Makes me feel less guilty being a miserable wretch all the time.”
― Marcus Kliewer, The Caretaker

“The sun is an overbearing extrovert, forever screaming things like: "Turn that FROWN upside DOWN." And "Up and at 'EM., camper. Let's JUMP out of bed and JUMP into a POSITIVE ATTITUDE." Fuck the Sun.”
― Marcus Kliewer, The Caretaker

“I'm still here, David.”
― Marcus Kliewer, The Caretaker