1
Proximity to reality induces feelings of emptiness, horror and depression. Do not approach it alone.Anthony Marais
2
We cannot escape the longing, no matter what life we choose. We’re either longing for people, places or times gone by, which are essentially the same things: memories. And, whether or not we travel, the older we get, the more memories we collect. Nostalgia is simply the result of aging and liking the life you’ve lived. Be happy you can feel it–it’s a good sign.Anthony Marais
3
Literature is the product of a deep-seated need for honesty. Hence, those who lie most are struck most deeply by it, and those who are honest have no need for it.Anthony Marais
4
We are not born with a need for knowledge, but a hunger for it. Eve bit the apple and it has been gluttony ever since.Anthony Marais
5
It is said that the depressive has a clearer view of reality than does the euphoric. Perhaps, but the euphoric has a clearer view of life.Anthony Marais
6
Writers are liars trying to come clean. That’s why the best ones are the most tragic.Anthony Marais
7
Writers are compulsive liars desperately trying to tell themselves the truth.Anthony Marais
8
Is it not ignorance that we share? A lie takes two. The truth we find alone.Anthony Marais
9
Just because one is born in sin is no reason to brag about it.Anthony Marais
10
Many humans make the mistake of fighting for race when it’s the species driving our genes. And there is only one weapon to fight for species: the brain.Anthony Marais
11
Reflection is nothing more than what it sounds, and pondering one’s own life is about as productive as talking to one’s image in a mirror: both acts are egocentric and neither produces a dialog. People who talk to themselves in public are not self-actualized; they're crazy.Anthony Marais
12
If one chews a problem over long enough, it becomes apparent that the jaw is aching, and what started as weighing heavy on the heart ends up a pain in the neck.Anthony Marais
13
Those who jump out of airplanes do not love life–they deny it, which, of course, is not done without a certain naughty exhilaration. Like children they relish tugging on the apron of Mother Nature, as long as she doesn’t turn and slap them.Anthony Marais
14
Race should be seen in one way, and one way only: on your marks, get set, go!Anthony Marais
15
Physiologically, the union of two opposites is a pleasurable affair. Why should the psyche be any different?Anthony Marais
16
It’s not words, but years we should be editing. Remember: time spent on bad art is a form of redundancy, doing the same thing twice is a form of tautology, and wasting precious moments complaining about life is a form of pleonasm. We should all learn to live our lives concisely.Anthony Marais
17
Contemplation and writing demand solitude, which leads to a sorry feeling of isolation and detachment. Writers try to call their loneliness genius, and the world believes them most of the time.Anthony Marais
18
How do you thank someone like Woody Allen or Milan Kundera–when they have shared ideas with you that are no less than life-saving, when they have given you some of your happiest moments, sharing what they have learned like a parent or a friend? Do you hunt them down and shake their hand? Do you ask for their autograph? Would that even the balance? And how do you thank Orson Welles or Oscar Wilde–people who are no longer with us? There is only one way to show your gratitude, and that is to give their precious gift back, return it the way you received it: write.Anthony Marais
19
We would like to think of death as a release from the pressures of existence, but this is a fatally mistaken thought: it is the ultimate culmination of those pressures.Anthony Marais
20
Infatuation is measured in pleasure. Love is measured in pain. Behold the value of pain!Anthony Marais
21
Nothing distresses the civilized person like unfettered nature. The Grand Canyon seen from behind the railing is indeed a splendid sight, but as soon as the desert reclaims your golf course that is another matter altogether.Anthony Marais
22
Wisdom doesn’t come only from the experience you have had, but from the experience you have chosen not to have.Anthony Marais
23
We are all born wise. Unfortunately, we all don’t die that way.Anthony Marais
24
If an artist wants to be original, he should not look to art for inspiration, for art seeks its model in life, not art–and only life is rich enough to simulate originality.Anthony Marais
25
Words are a means to an end. Those who chase after them inevitably fail to reach that end.Anthony Marais
26
There is nothing wrong with being fascinated by the dark side of life, and ourselves, but woe to those who think this is representative of reality. All too many of us sit in our homes watching TV, falling prey to the delusion that the world is getting worse. If these sorry individuals spent more time meeting their neighbors, they’d discover that 95% of their peers are fine people.Anthony Marais
27
There is nothing more blinding than having seen the light, and nothing more tiresome than sharing it.Anthony Marais
28
To conceive of a god in one’s image is already quite a feat for inflated egos. To imagine, however, that this likeness has chosen your generation amongst the thousands for ending the party is to bring the egocentrism to new heights.Anthony Marais