β
Sometimes skulls are thick. Sometimes hearts are vacant. Sometimes words don't work.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
Be strong. Live honorably and with dignity. When you don't think you can, hold on.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
The wounds that never heal can only be mourned alone.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
When I see you, the World stops. It stops and all that exists for me is you and my eyes staring at you. There's nothing else. No noise, no other people, no thoughts or worries, no yesterday, no tomorrow. The World just stops, and it is a beautiful place, and there is only you.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
Pain is the feeling. Suffering is the effect the pain inflicts. If one can endure pain, one can live without suffering. If one can withstand pain, one can withstand anything. If one can learn to control pain, one can learn to control oneself.
β
β
James Frey (My Friend Leonard)
β
I turn and I slowly walk away and I don't look back. It has always been a fault of mine, but it is the way I am. I never look back. Never.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
There is no fear. Absolutely no fear. When one lives without fear, one cannot be broken. When one lives with fear one is broken before one begins to live.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
If you care about what others think of you, then you will always be their slave.
β
β
James Frey
β
More than anything, all I have ever wanted is to be close to someone.
More than anything, all I have ever wanted is to feel as if i wasn't alone.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
There is emotion in the hug, and there is respect and a form of love. Emotion that comes from honesty, respect that comes from challenge, and the form of love that exists between people whose minds have touched, whose hearts have touched, whose souls have touched. Our minds touched. Our hearts touched. Our souls touched.
We separate.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
If there was a God. I would spit in his face for subjecting me to this. If there was a Devil, I would sell my sould to make it end. If there was something Higher that controlled out f***ing fates, I would tell it to take my fate and shove it up its fucking ass. Shove it hard and far, you motherf***er. Please end. Please end. Please end.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
I think of how and why and what happened and the thoughts come easily, but the answers don't.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
Part of me still loves. More of me doesn't.
β
β
James Frey
β
The Young Man came to the Old Man seeking counsel.
I broke something, Old Man.
How badly is it broken?
It's in a million little pieces.
I'm afraid I can't help you.
Why?
There's nothing you can do.
Why?
It can't be fixed.
Why?
It's broken beyond repair. It's in a million little pieces.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
Let things be, let yourself be, let everything be and accept it as it is. Nothing more. Nothing less.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
So young," said Wyman Manderly, "Though mayhaps this was a blessing. Had he lived he would've grown up to be a Frey.
β
β
George R.R. Martin (A Dance with Dragons (A Song of Ice and Fire, #5))
β
Even a second of freedom is worth more than a lifetime of bondage.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
Leonard asks me if there's anything I need to know before he dies, I think about it for a minute, turn to him, say what's the meaning of life, Leonard? He laughs, says that's an easy one, my son, it's whatever you want it to be.
β
β
James Frey (My Friend Leonard)
β
I would like to be soft and warm. I would be terrified to be that way. I could be hurt if I were soft and warm. I could be hurt by something other than myself. It is harder to be soft than it is to be hard. I could be hurt by something other than myself.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
Foes and false friends are all around me, Lord Davos. They infest my city like roaches, and at night I feel them crawling over me.β The fat manβs fingers coiled into a fist, and all his chins trembled. βMy son Wendel came to the Twins a guest. He ate Lord Walderβs bread and salt, and hung his sword upon the wall to feast with his friends. And they murdered him. Murdered, I say, and may the Freys choke upon their fables. I drink with Jared, jape with Symond, promise Rhaegar the hand of my own beloved granddaughterβ¦but never think that means I have forgotten. The north remembers, Lord Davos. The north remembers, and the mummerβs farce is almost done. My son is home.
β
β
George R.R. Martin (A Dance with Dragons (A Song of Ice and Fire, #5))
β
The first time I saw you, my heart fell. The second time I saw you, my heart fell. The third time fourth time fifth time and every time since, my heart has fallen.
I stared at her.
You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Your hair, your eyes, your lips, your body that you haven't grown into, the way you walk, smile, laugh, the way your cheeks drop when you're mad or upset, the way you drag your feet when you're tired. Every single thing about you is beautiful.
I stared at her.
When I see you the World stops. It stops and all that exists for me is you and my eyes staring at you. There's nothing else. No noise, no other people, no thoughts or worries, no yesterday, no tomorrow. The World just stops and it is a beautiful place and there is only you. Just you, and my eyes staring at you.
I stared.
When you're gone, the World starts again, and I don't like it as much. I can live in it, but I don't like it. I just walk around in it and wait to see you again and wait for it to stop again. I love it when it stops. It's the best fucking thing I've ever known or ever felt, the best thing, and that, beautiful Girl, is why I stare at you.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
Be content with what you have and take joy in the way things are. When you realize you have all you need, the World belongs to you.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
Are we biology or God or something higher? I know my heart beats and I listen to it. The beat is biology, but what is the song?
β
β
James Frey
β
And as ridiculous as it may sound, sometimes all any of us needs in life is for someone to hold our hand and walk next to us.
β
β
James Frey (The Final Testament of the Holy Bible)
β
Be bold. But not bold, be fucking bold.
β
β
James Frey (My Friend Leonard)
β
Frey was the god of spring and summer! read the caption. He was the god of wealth, abundance, and fertility. His twin sister, Freya, the goddess of love, was very pretty! She had cats!
β
β
Rick Riordan (The Sword of Summer (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, #1))
β
I feel strong. Not strong enough to face myself, but strong enough to keep going.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
About life:
"It is not complicated unless I make it so. It is not difficult unless I allow it to be. A second is no more than a second, a minute no more than a minute, a day no more than a day. They pass. All things and all time will pass. Don't force or fear, don't control or lose control. Don't fight and don't stop fighting. Embrace and endure. If you embrace, you will endure.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
Sleep is still difficult I sleep for three or four hours a day. Usually sometime in the afternoon. I walk in the cold, keep myself numb. I cry less, and less." (James Frey, pg.88)
β
β
James Frey (My Friend Leonard)
β
Be patient and wait. Your mud will settle. Your water will be clear.
β
β
James Frey
β
Everything I know and I am and I have seen felt done past present past now then before now seen felt done hurt felt focus into a something beyond words beyond beyond beyond and it speaks now and it says.
Stay.
Fight.
Live.
Take it.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
That was beautiful.
She is holding my hand.
No, it wasn't.
If she let go, I would fall apart.
It was. It was beautiful because it was honest and it was beautiful because it hurt and it was beautiful because you didn't have to tell it to me.
Fall apart.
It makes me feel like shit.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
It's cold and it's winter and the world has gone to sleep
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
She waits for me at windows and buys me dragons. There are reasons we walk this earth, Iβm coming to realize mine.
β
β
Kristen Ashley (Wildest Dreams (Fantasyland, #1))
β
I mentally began composing a list of words that began with F: Frey. Father. False. Friend. Frick. Frack. And some others.
β
β
Rick Riordan (The Ship of the Dead (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, #3))
β
life is hard, kid. you gotta be harder. you gotta take it on and fight for it and be a fucking man about how you live it. if you're too much of a pussy to do that, then maybe you should leave, 'cause you're dead already
β
β
James Frey
β
shouldn't he pick on more interesting heroes, like the children of Thor? At least their dad had a movie franchise. Frey didn't even have his own cats. He had to borrow his sister's.
β
β
Rick Riordan (The Sword of Summer (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, #1))
β
I love you, Frey. Iβm in love with you. So in love, Iβll never stop loving you. Not ever. You, everything about you is beyond my wildest dreams.
β
β
Kristen Ashley (Wildest Dreams (Fantasyland, #1))
β
He tells me I look as if I could use a hugand i laugh at him and he ignores me and steps forward and puts his arms around me and hugs me. I warm at the simple pleasure of human contact and for the first time in a long time i actually feel good." (James Frey, pg.38)
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
The past doesn't matter. People cling to it because it allows them to ignore the present.
β
β
James Frey (The Final Testament of the Holy Bible)
β
This is how it has always been with me. Give me something good, Iβll destroy it. Love me, Iβll destroy you. I have never felt deserving of anything in my life.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
But love is different for every person. For some it's hate, for some it's joy, for some it's fear, for some it's jealousy, for some it's torture, for some it's peace. For some it's everything.
β
β
James Frey (The Final Testament of the Holy Bible)
β
Stay.
Fight.
Live.
Take it.
Cry.
Cry.
Cry.
β
β
James Frey
β
And loss of control is always the source of fear. It is also, however, always the source of change.
β
β
James Frey (The Final Testament of the Holy Bible)
β
Live and let live, do not judge, take life as it comes and deal with it, everything will be okay.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
Be smart, be strong, be proud, live honorably and with dignity, and just hold on.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
I close my eyes and I let my body shut itself down and I let my mind wander. It wanders to a familiar place. A place I donβt talk about or acknowledge exists. A place where there is only me. A place that I hate. I am alone. Alone here and alone in the world. Alone in my heart and alone in my mind. Alone everywhere, all the time, for as long as I can remember. Alone with my Family, alone with my friends, alone in a Room full of People. Alone when I wake, alone through each awful day, alone when I finally meet the blackness. I am alone in my horror. Alone in my horror. I donβt want to be alone. I have never wanted to be alone. I fucking hate it. I hate that I have no one to talk to, I hate that I have no one to call, I hate that I have no one to hold my hand, hug me, tell me everything is going to be all right. I hate that I have no one to share my hopes and dreams with, I hate that I no longer have any hopes or dreams, I hate that I have no one to tell me to hold on, that I can find them again. I hate that when I scream, and I scream bloody murder, that I am screaming into emptiness. I hate that there is no one to hear my scream and that there is no one to help me learn how to stop screaming. . . More than anything, all I have ever wanted is to be close to someone. More than anything, all I have ever wanted is to feel as if I wasnβt alone.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
Trauma is survivable, but often not much more. It kills you while allowing you to still live.
β
β
James Frey (The Final Testament of the Holy Bible)
β
You only live once, buy Picassos whenever possible.
β
β
James Frey (My Friend Leonard)
β
I'm tired of making people sad and I'm tired of disappointing them and I'm tired of seeing them break. I have seen this too many times. He will be the last.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
There are never words for the strongest of our feelings. There is just the pain that we cannot share. Pain we must all feel alone.
β
β
James Frey (The Final Testament of the Holy Bible)
β
I want to run or die or get fucked up. I want to be blind and dumb and have no heart. I want to crawl in a hole and never come out. I want to wipe my existence straight off the map. Straight off the fucking map.
β
β
James Frey
β
Laughing and Love. They are both drugs.
β
β
James Frey
β
What's crazy is living your life according to some book written by someone who couldn't imagine what your life would be like.
β
β
James Frey (The Final Testament of the Holy Bible)
β
I learned to read at a young age and I have always read voraciously. It is one of the few things, aside from getting fucked up and getting in trouble, that I have done consistently throughout my entire life.
β
β
James Frey
β
Addicts, as a group, generally score far above average o intelligence tests.
Why?
You tell me.
I guess maybe we're smart enough to have figured out how shitty things are and we decide addiction is the only way to deal with it.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
Addiction is a decision. An individual wants something, whatever that something is, and makes a desicion to get it. Once they have it, they make a decision to take it. If they take it too often, that process of decision making gets out of control, and if it gets far out of control, it becomes an addiction. At that point the decision is a difficult one to make, but it is still a decision. Do I or don't I. Am I going to take or am I not going to waste my life or am I going to say no and try and stay sober and be a decent person. It is a decision. Each and every time. A decision. String enough of those decisions together and you set a course and you set a standard of living. Addict or human. Genetics do not make that call. They are just an excuse. They allow people to say it wasn't my fault I am genetically predisposed. It wasn't my fault I was programmed from day one. It wasn't my fault I didn't have any say in the matter. Bullshit. Fuck that bullshit. There is always a decision. Take responsibility for it. Addict or human. It's a fucking decision. Each and every time.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
And even though people try to pretend that pain doesn't do anything to them, none of us can really handle it. Everything bad we do in our life is because of pain of some kind.
β
β
James Frey (The Final Testament of the Holy Bible)
β
We stare into each other's eyes and softly kiss speaking and saying more with the movement of our lips and the tips of our fingers than words will allow us to say. Words can't say this. The one word love means too little for what it is. It means everything and that is still not enough. It doesn't communicate even a fraction of the feelings involved. Love. The word is not enough for what it is. Love. Love.
β
β
James Frey
β
It's when I'm standing six feet away from you and not being able to find the words to tell you how much I love you and how much I miss you that I want to just scream to the whole room that I'm still in love with you. It's when I'm sitting alone with the phone in my hand dialing your number and hanging up that I would trade a thousand tomorrows for just one yesterday. Then I could just call you to tell you goodnight. It's when I am really sad about something and need someone to talk to that I realize you're the only one who really knew me at all. It's when I cry myself to sleep at night and it hits me how much I would give to hold you at that very moment. It's when I think about you that I realize no one else in the world is meant for me.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
To live with angels and chase their dreams.
β
β
James Frey (Bright Shiny Morning)
β
The promise of eternal life makes people forsake the life they're given.
β
β
James Frey (The Final Testament of the Holy Bible)
β
The one word love means too little for what it is. It doesn't communicate even a fraction of the feelings involved. Love. The word is not enough for what it is. Love. Love.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
Life is hard, Kid, you gotta be harder. You gotta take it on and fight for it and be a fucking man about how you live it.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
She made me feel better than I have ever felt, better than I imagined I could feel, and it scared me, it scared me to the point of paralysis.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
I go to my Room and I drink and I smoke some cigarettes and I think about her. I drink and I smoke and I think about her and at a certain point blackness comes and my memory fails me.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
I am aware that the battle I am fighting is a petty one, but I am also aware that in order to win that which is great, you must first win that which is small.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
I've been alone my whole life, I can't do it anymore.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
They had dreams but they called them dreams because they were unrelated to reality, they were a distant unknown, an impossibility, they would never come true.
β
β
James Frey (Bright Shiny Morning)
β
I prefer your smiles and laughter, wife, but there are far worse things than your tears wetting my skin.
β
β
Kristen Ashley (Wildest Dreams (Fantasyland, #1))
β
I hope nobody took the Razzle Dazzle Rose.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
The feeling of arms around me, of love in my heart, it was more powerful than any of the negativity I knew was existing in the world for me. That feeling of love killed it all.
β
β
James Frey (The Final Testament of the Holy Bible)
β
In life we often look to others for simple, but difficult answers, despite the fact that we have those answers ourselves.
β
β
James Frey (The Final Testament of the Holy Bible)
β
The secret to kicking ass in dumbshit Hollywood... Every time you meet someone, make a fucking impression. Make them think you're the hottest shit in the world. Make them think they're gonna lose their job if they don't give you one. Look 'em in the eye, and never look away. Be confident and calm, be fucking bold.
That sounds more like the secret to kicking ass in life.
It is, but I was gonna wait and tell you that some other time.
β
β
James Frey (My Friend Leonard)
β
All of us started normal. All of us started out as functioning human beings with the potential to do almost anything we wanted, but somewhere along the paths of our lives, we got lost.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
I turn and I look back across the lake. The mist is gone and the ice diminished, the drip of the icicles quick and heavy. The sun is up and the sky is blue empty blue light blue clear blue. I would drink the sky if I could drink it, drink it and celebrate it and let it fill me and become me. I am getting better. Empty and clear and light and blue. I am getting better.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
I think men who can cry are strong men
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
Love only brought me lonliness and horror.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
Its not just a smile of momentary happiness. When it disappears from my face, it will stay with me.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
I often think of death.
True.
Suicide is a reasonable option.
True.
My sins are unpardonable.
I stare at the question.
My sins are unpardonable.
I stare at the question.
My sins are unpardonable.
I leave it blank.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
Hate me if you must, but know that I will never hate you.
β
β
James Frey (The Calling (Endgame, #1))
β
Life, not death, is the great mystery you must confront.
β
β
James Frey (The Final Testament of the Holy Bible)
β
I have lived alone, I have fought alone, I have dealt with the pain alone. I will die alone.
I think when I'm going to leave. I donβt want to be seen and I donβt want to be followed , I want to disappear quickly and quietly and without any drama , I want as much time in the darkness as I can possibly have . The darkness provides cover, the darkness provides places to hide and the darkness provides comfort.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
You care if I say motherfucking around you?
I smile.
I'd be fucking offended if you didn't.
Hank laughs, slaps his knee.
That's my motherfucking Boy.
β
β
James Frey
β
In my mind my obituary is done.It is done and it is right. It tells the truth and as awful as it can be, the truth is what matters. It is what I should be remembered by, if I'm remembered at all. Remember the truth. that is all that matters
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
Unlike most of the other crayons, Black has hardly been used. People probably avoid Black because it isn't considered a happy color [...] I, however, like Black. It is a color that makes me comfortable and the color with which I have the most experience [...] I like Black, goddamnit, and I am going to give it its due.
β
β
James Frey
β
There are no words and there is no singing, but the music has a voice. It is an old voice and a deep voice, like the stump of a sweet cigar or a shoe with a hole. It is a voice that has lived and lives, with sorrow and shame, ecstasy and bliss, joy and pain, redemption and damnation. It is a voice with love and without love. I like the voice, and though I can't talk to it, I like the way it talks to me. It says it is all the same, Young Man. Take it and let it be.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
The clock holds me nowhere. Nowhere. Nowhere. There is nothing else but now and the shifting depth of the night. I sit at a table alone smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee and listening and surviving. I should not be here or anywhere. I should not be breathing or taking space. I should not have been given this moment or anything else. I should not have this opportunity again to live. I do not deserve it or deserve anything yet it is here and I am here and I Have it all of it still. I won't have it again. This moment or this chance they are the same and they are mine if I choose them and I do. I want them. Now and as long as I can have them they are both precious and fleeting and gone in the blink of an eye don't waste them. A moment and an opportunity and a life, all in the unseen tick of a clock holding me nowhere. My heart is beating. The walls are pale and quiet. I am surviving.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
My life is routine. I wake up early in the morning. I brush my teeth. I sit on the floor of the cell I do not go to breakfast. I stare at a gray cement wall. I keep my legs crossed my back straight my eyes forward. I take deep breaths in and out, in and out, and I try not to move. I sit for as long as I can I sit until everything hurts I sit until everything stops hurting I sit until I lose myself in the gray wall I sit until my mind becomes as blank as the gray wall. I sit and I stare and I breathe. I sit and I stare. I breathe.
β
β
James Frey (My Friend Leonard)
β
I sleep during the day. I still dream about drinking and drugs. Sometimes I wake to a hang-over, sometimes I wake to a trickle of blood from my nose, sometimes I wake scared and shaking. I read, go to museums and visit Lilly in the afternoon. Sometimes I read to her, sometimes I talk to her, sometimes I just sit and remember the times, remember the times, remember the times." (James Frey, pg.119)
β
β
James Frey (My Friend Leonard)
β
Light streamed through one of the windows and across her face and I have never seen anything or anyone so beautiful in my life. If my heart had stopped at that moment I would have fallen happy and fallen full and I would have seen in life all that I had wanted to see and all that I needed to see. Fall. Let me fall.
β
β
James Frey
β
Writer's block is real. It happens. Some days you sit down at the
old typewriter, put your fingers on the keys, and nothing pops
into your head. Blanko. Nada. El nothingissimo. What you do
when this happens is what separates you from the one-of-thesedays-
I'm-gonna-write-a-book crowd.
β
β
James N. Frey (How to Write a Damn Good Novel: A Step-by-Step No Nonsense Guide to Dramatic Storytelling)
β
I meet a third man he's an old man he trips in the street he falls and I help him up, walk him to the curb. He shakes my hand says keep the faith, young man. I ask him what he means, he says keep running and don't let them catch you.
β
β
James Frey (My Friend Leonard)
β
I miss everything. I miss talking to her, hearing about her day. I miss her voice all gravelly and smoky, I miss hearing her laugh, I miss getting her letters, writing her letters. I miss her eyes, and the smell of her hair, and the way her breath tasted. I fucking miss everything. I miss knowing she was around, because it helped me to know that she was around, someone like her existed. I guess most of all, I miss knowing I would see her again. I always thought I'd see her again.
β
β
James Frey (My Friend Leonard)
β
I stand, walk over to him, sit down on his bed, put my arms around him, hug him. He hugs me back strong and I can feel the shame coming through his arms. I am a Criminal and he is a Judge and I am white and he is black, but at this moment none of that matters. He is a man who needs a friends and I can be his friend.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
This Girl with nothing but her own strength and a desire to be free. With nothing but a beating heart that is scared to be alone. With nothing but clear blue eyes that see through me and understand me. With nothing but open arms ready to receive me. To stand by me. To walk with me. To love me. I love her. Lilly. The Girl with nothing and everything. Lilly. I love her. A tear appears. She smiles. She leans forward kisses my lips softly kisses me and as our lips touch barely touch she whispers. I love you too, James. Our lips barely touching she whispers. I love you. Whispers. I love you.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
I, however, like black. It is a color that makes me comfortable and the color with which I have the most experience. In the darkest darkness, all is black. In the deepest hole, all is black. In the terror of my Addicted mind, all is black. In the empty periods of my lost memory, all is black. I like black, goddammit, and I am going to give it its due.
β
β
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
β
The Babar the Elephant book is sitting in front of me. I pick it up and start reading it. I remember reading it as a small Boy and enjoying it and imagining that I was friends with Babar, his constant Companion during all of his adventures. He went to the moon, I went with him. He fought Tomb Raiders in Egypt, I fought alongside him. He rescued his elephant girlfriend from Ivory Hunters on the Savanna, I coordinated the getaway. I loved that goddamn Elephant and I loved being his friend. In a childhood full of unhappiness and rage, Babar is one of the few pleasant memories that I have. Me and Babar, kicking some motherfucking ass.
β
β
James Frey
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Gauguin was a stockbroker in Paris, married, had five kids. One day he came home from work and told his wife he was leaving, that he was through supporting the family, that he had had enough. Just like that he fucking took off. He said he had always felt that he was a painter, so he moved to a rat-infested shithole and started painting. His wife begged him to come back, his bosses told him he was insane, he didn't care, he was following his heart. He left Paris, moved to Rouen, went from Rouen to Arles, from Arles to Tahiti. He was searching for peace, contentment, trying to fill that fucking hole he felt inside, and he believed he could fill it. He died in Tahiti, blind and crazy from syphilis, but he did it. He filled his fucking hole, made beautiful work, made beautiful, beautiful work... It takes a brave man to walk away, to care so much that he doesn't care about anything else, to be willing to obey what he feels inside, to be willing to suffer the consequences of living for himself. Every time I stand before his work it makes me cry, and I cry because I'm proud of him, and happy for him, and because I admire him.
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James Frey (My Friend Leonard)
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I think God is something that people use to avoid reality. I think faith allows people to reject what is right in front of our eyes, which is that thing, this life, this existence, this consciousness, or whatever word you want to use for it, is all we have, and all we'll ever have. I think people have faith because they want and need to believe in something, whatever that something is, because life can be hard and depressing and brutal if you don't.
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James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)