Matthew Perry Memoir Quotes

My mother is beautiful; she was a star in every room she entered. And she's certainly the reason I'm funny.

Alcohol was my best friend because it never wanted to talk about itself. It was just always there, the mute dog at my heel, gazing up at me, always ready to go on a walk. It took away so much of the pain, including the fact that when I was alone, I was lonely, and that when I was with people, I was lonely, too.

Chapter 11: Batman (page 249) Love and courage, man—the two most important things. I don't move forward with fear anymore—I move forward with curiosity.

Chapter 6: Bruce Willis (page 142) What did I do differently that season? I listened. I didn't just stand there and wait for my turn to speak. Sometimes in acting, it's more powerful to listen than to talk. I have tried to incorporate that in real life, too. Know more, say less. That's my new mantra.

I can't say yes to that question, "Why?" when I feel like I'm not enough. You can't give away something you do not have. And most of the time, I have these nagging thoughts: I'm not enough, I don't matter, I am too needy. These thoughts make me uncomfortable. I need love, but I don't trust it. If I drop my game, my Chandler, and show you who I really am, you might notice me, but worse, you might notice me and leave me. And I can't have that. I won't survive that. Not anymore. It will turn me into a speck of dust and annihilate me.

And I should be dead. If you like, you can consider what you're about to read to be a message from the beyond, my beyond.

And not only do I have the disease, but I also have it bad. I have it as bad as you can have it, in fact. It's backs-to-the-wall time all the time. It's going to kill me (I guess something has to).

Addiction is like the Joker. It just wants to see the whole world burn.

I hadn’t been there for anyone for so long, my addiction being my best friend and my evil friend and my punisher and my lover, all in one. My big terrible thing.

Chapter 11: Batman (page 249) Life keeps moving; each day is an opportunity, now, a chance for wonder and hope and work and forward motion.

Chapter 10: The Big Terrible Thing (page 229) There is a reason I'm still here. And figuring out why is the task that has been put in front of me.

Chapter 4: Like I've Been There Before (page 94) In fact, it was a truly creative atmosphere. We could pitch jokes, and the best joke won, no matter where it came from. The craft services lady said something funny? Put it in, it didn't matter. So, not only was I there as an actor, but my creative juices were flowing, too.