Quotes About Introspection

It seems to me that existence — at this point I have doubts about the universe — is a lot like a Rorschach ink-blot. Everybody looks at it and sees their own favorite reality-tunnel.

That's what makes you unhappy," Marcie said. "You ask too many questions.

The Cosmic Schmuck Law, as stated in several of my books, holds that if you occasionally notice that you have said something or done something that qualifies as Cosmic Schmuckery, you might become, in time, less of a Cosmic Schmuck; but if you never notice any Cosmic Schmuckery in your own thinking/doing, you will become more and more of a Cosmic Schmuck every year.

If you think you know what the hell is going on, you're probably full of shit.

As I sat on death row, reading his work created a doorway that allowed me to walk out of my cell and into a universe of infinite wonder. He taught me how to begin creating my own world, and how to leave behind the mundane and mediocre drudgery that seemed to swallow most people whole.

And I repeat that we might all become startlingly sane, or at least much less stupid, if we tried, even occasionally, to look dispassionately and without prejudice at precisely those events which do not seem to fit our own favorite reality-tunnel or tunnels.

It is not nonsense. We are merely confronting infinity where we least expected to encounter it — in our own lonely selves.

The only escape from this trap, as far as I can see, is to be skeptical about one's own skepticism: which is what I mean by the New Agnosticism.

When you thought about it, silence was rarely silent. Silence was the small noises you heard when the larger noises disappeared.

I do the best I can to approve and disapprove only of my own behavior. I don't always succeed, but I try. I'm trying now and I'm going to keep at it.

if you lay back and let oblivion roll over you, it will be your fault.

Perhaps you will want time to digest what we've discussed," she

Anger doesn't have to be expressed. It is enough to know that you're angry, and know why, and not lie to yourself about it.

I wonder why I'm so uneasy naked," she said. "Maybe it's the gimlet-eyed lechery of my gaze," I said. "Probably," she said.

off with Utley." We were all quiet then, Susan and I

Do you have a first name, Mr. Spenser'?" Jill said. She had a soft girlish voice with just a hint of huskiness at the edges. I told her my first name.

You need to be able to hear the truth, he thought. You can't hear the truth, you got nowhere to start.

Don't you think we're oversexed?" "You're the shrink," I said. "You tell me." "Yes," she said. "I believe we are." "What should we do about it?" I said. "Encourage the pathology," Susan said, and smiled her rebelangel smile at me.

If you can't be alone," Jesse said, "you can't be with someone.

You think I'm deeply disturbed?" Susan said. "Yes," I said. She nodded. "Yes," she said. "I think you're right." Then

Talk about not knowing other people—why, when you came right down to it, you didn't even know yourself!

She'd thrown something at the mirror, and then the mirror broke into a thousand pieces and she knew that wasn't all; she was breaking into a thousand pieces, too.

And here, all along, she'd thought of herself as being so calm, so cool, so composed.

There are times when you must stop analyzing and depend on your emotions.