Being an addict

But being an addict means that you never stipulate to being an adult. You may, as the occasion requires, adopt the trade dress of a grown-up, showing responsibility and gravitas in spurts to get by, but the rest of the time, you do what you want when you want.

David Carr: The Night of the Gun

Sharing as Therapy

You cannot help others unless you understand the person you are trying to help. To understand the problems and temptations of others, you must have been through them yourself. You must do all you can to understand others. You must study their backgrounds, their likes and dislikes, their reactions and their prejudices. When you see their weaknesses, do not confront the person with them. Share your own weaknesses, sins, and temptations, and let other people find their own convictions.

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Acht Obstsorten

Durstig ging er zum Kühlschrank, und bei dem Anblick der eisigen Bierflaschen kam ihm der Gedanke [es war noch dunkel, er war gerade erst aufgestanden], er könne ein Bier trinken. Er nahm die Zweiliterflasche Saft heraus, der laut Etikett acht Obstsorten enthielt. So was glaubte nur ein Volltrottel.

Peter Temple: Kalter August

Spiritual Development

Spiritual development is achieved by daily persistence in living the way you believe God wants you to live. Like the wearing away of a stone by steady drops of water, so will your daily persistence wear away all the difficulties and gain spiritual success for you. Never falter in this daily, steady persistence. Go forward boldly and unafraid. God will help and strengthen you, as long as you are trying to do His will.

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Unspeakable Truths

The theme of abasement followed by salvation is a durable device in literature, but does it abide the complexity of how things really happened? Everyone is told just about as much as he needs to know, including the self. In Notes from Underground, Dostoevsky explains that recollection - memory, even - is fungible, and often leaves out unspeakable truths, saying, "Man is bound to lie about himself."

David Carr: The Night of the Gun

Verschweigen

"Glauben Sie dass sie etwas weiss, was sie uns verschweigt?"
"Das tut fast jeder", sagte ich. "Darum ist mein Leben auch so schwer. Und so interessant."

Ross Macdonald: Camping im Leichenwagen

Getting In Touch

They neglect to tell you that after the urge to get high magically vanishes and you've been Substanceless for maybe six or eight months, you'll begin to start to 'Get In Touch' with why it was that you used Substances in the first place. You'll start to feel why it was you got dependent on what was, when you get right down to it, an anesthetic. 'Getting In Touch With Your Feelings' is another quilted-sampler-type cliché that ends up masking something ghastly deep and real, it turns out. It turns out that the vapider the AA cliché, the sharper the canines of the real truth it covers.

David Foster Wallace: The Infinite Jest

Leben hinzufügen

Du kannst deinem Leben
keinen Tag hinzufügen,
aber du kannst jedem Tag
Leben hinzufügen.

Ralf Schneider
Die Suchtfibel
Schneider Verlag Hohengehren, 2009
14. überarbeitete und erweiterte Auflage