The Reluctant Demon Quotes

“Those who do not know themselves may be impelled by just those subconscious drivers you are describing, yet it is the goal of therapy to free the patient from this unconscious control. If we can’t change, what would be the point of therapy in the first place?”
― Mark Cain, The Reluctant Demon

“when we don’t get enough pleasure, or at least when mortals don’t get enough pleasure, Eros is out of balance with Thanatos. Our lives, how you put it, oh yes, our lives suck, we get depressed, the drive toward death becomes an extremely powerful inner force. Some of us even kill ourselves. But when we have a full, libidinous life, the death drive is diverted,”
― Mark Cain, The Reluctant Demon

“The death drive, which some people have called Thanatos, for branding reasons I think, is an urge we have to return to our earliest state, an inorganic state.”
― Mark Cain, The Reluctant Demon

“cool word “simulacrum,” and I wanted to see if I could work it into a sentence –”
― Mark Cain, The Reluctant Demon

“been,”
― Mark Cain, The Reluctant Demon

“That’s because it was sappy and trite. True, loving relationships are full of heart-felt apologies. Humans and, I suppose, even demons, make lots of mistakes, though humans probably make more because they have free will, so can muck things up more than the rest of the creatures in the universe. Heart-felt apologies,” I repeated. “Just like now, when I tell you I’m sorry to have doubted you.” I kissed her on the cheek again.”
― Mark Cain, The Reluctant Demon