Anthony Marais Quotes

We need but three things to change the world: a brain, a heart, and a friend.

Writers are liars trying to come clean. That's why the best ones are the most tragic.

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.

We should be carefree with our bodies and prudish with our brains, not the contrary. How virtuous we are with our flesh, and yet the first foul thought that comes our way is invited to the depths of our soul.

It's always the bastard who is most patriotic.

To measure up takes skill, but to err is an art.

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.

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.

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.

Proximity to reality induces feelings of emptiness, horror and depression. Do not approach it alone.

When hunting a Maltese Falcon, catch it, but don't scratch it!

Temptation is the voice of reason without its clothes on.

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.

Our most cultural state is one of total certainty - which is the reason those of us who are most certain are those who are most out of touch with nature (i.e., reality).

It could be said that the discovery of ourselves is at the heart of what we call enlightenment, which is to say that that big, bright light at the end of the tunnel is us. The problem is that no one wants to discover that we're no better or no worse than the rest - indeed, to discover that we're no different than the rest - because that's no fun.

To imagine the world without gods and religion is reasonable enough; to imagine mankind without them is an entirely different matter.

The price of maturity is exorbitant these days. Paying for wisdom with money is one thing, but when time becomes the currency, it's your life at stake.

In California depth is measured in feet: six feet on one end of the pool and three feet on the other.

Marriage is a lie - the most beautiful lie two people can share.

Gape long enough into a looking glass and you'll eventually see beauty. The same can be said of self-analysis, and as soon as one apes oneself, a second monkey is born.

Reality is fatal whereas fantasy is something to die for.

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.

We are all born wise. Unfortunately, we all don't die that way.

Most parents are so convinced of their little darling's innocence that, by proxy, in rallying for junior's purity they come to believe in their own innocence - as if duplicating oneself will make a right!

Humanity is as horrified and repulsed by real nature as it is by real death. Thus, we strike back against this formidable opponent with our sharpest weapon: our imagination. From this noble tool - born of necessity and elevated to beauty - culture was born, and the war against nature begun.

Modernity of form is the style of old fogies yet to be.

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.

Those who do not preach life but live it do not smile to the lily near the bank; they look for stones and hang on.

From our myopia arose our dystopia.

Is it not ignorance that we share? A lie takes two. The truth we find alone.

No philosopher was ever apathetic. If there is no love, it is not philosophy.

Physiologically, the union of two opposites is a pleasurable affair. Why should the psyche be any different?

The closer art reflects reality, the less artistic it becomes. Art is most enticing when it mimics life as a wolf dressed in sheep's clothing. The contrary is always a grave disappointment.

Writers are compulsive liars desperately trying to tell themselves the truth.

The key to writing is something to be stolen. How else does one open the door to a house of thieves?

Sexual harassment is using what Nature gave us to take what isn't ours. It's an act of violence not only against an individual, but the group - and it inevitably meets with the wrath of the group.

Just because one is born in sin is no reason to brag about it.

Culture preaches monogamy while Nature repeats it - over and over again.

Wisdom doesn't come only from the experience you have had, but from the experience you have chosen not to have.

Sympathy is to love thy neighbor. Empathy is to leave her alone.

Skin color or the shape of one's nose cannot be the criteria upon which individuals are judged. Black is not beautiful; it's racist. Being African-American, conscious of your culture, fascinated by your history, this is beautiful - and really has nothing to do with putting a color chart next to your face.

There may be deep thought, but deep people don't exist. Our bodies must float on the surface, otherwise we drown.

Race should be seen in one way, and one way only: on your marks, get set, go!

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.

Homosexuality is the most beautiful aspect of humanity. For its existence is proof that altruism is natural; it is to demonstrate that the theory of the "survival of the fittest" can only apply to the species as a whole, and that reproduction is insufficient to secure our place in the great jungle of life, which means being nice is a more stable evolutionary strategy than making kids; and if the homosexual is attracted to religion or to art - or, in smaller societies, to shamanism or caring for other people's children - is this not due to his or her search for purpose? If so, then what we call purpose must be something that encompasses all modes of life. What we call love must be greater than child rearing or caring for a mate.

Words are a means to an end. Those who chase after them inevitably fail to reach that end.

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.

The awe-inspiring beauty of nature is nothing more than being flabbergasted by our ignorance of it. Good art produces the same effect; and the worst thing an artist can do is to follow the herd, because domesticated art is about as dynamic as a domesticated animal.

Infatuation is measured in pleasure. Love is measured in pain. Behold the value of pain!

Somethingism is better than nihilism.

Art is aesthetic communication of the soul - in fact, it's the best of that communication - and taken in its entirety has formed a body of work to stand alongside Science and Religion as one of the three great constructs of culture to aid the individual in his or her struggle to survive in Nature.

If death is perfect enlightenment, life appears to be the perfect opposite.

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.

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.