Authors:

Deb Olin Unferth Quotes

Humans, we just hop out of things, off things. We splatter ourselves in inappropriate places. Because we have nothing to live for. Because we want to destroy what we can. Because we want to be something we can’t.

Humans, we just hop out of things, off things. We splatter ourselves in inappropriate places. Because we have nothing to live for. Because we want to destroy what we can. Because we want to be something we can’t. Because we don’t really believe we can die.

Deb Olin Unferth
Believe, Want, Inappropriate
Deb Olin Unferth (2010). “Vacation”, p.105, Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

I decided I like that mode. It's how I think - it's my voice. I like being funny and sad at the same time, or funny and disturbing at the same time. It's my natural voice.

Deb Olin Unferth
Thinking, Natural

Howard's enchanting Hospice obeys its own magical inner logic with excellent prose and a sadness that will split open hearts. You have in your hands a story that is inquisitive, gripping, and triumphant.

Deb Olin Unferth
Sadness, Heart, Hands

You know how it is to want something. Desire builds like a little house in your head and it sits there, half-constructed in your mind. Women who want children are this way. Artists are this way about pictures. It doesn't go away. You may forget for a few months but then it's back, the unfinished pieces of what you want.

Deb Olin Unferth
Children, Artist, Want Something
Deb Olin Unferth (2010). “Vacation”, p.99, Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

I want to be funny. When I first started writing, I didn't find my stories funny, but people kept saying they were. It kind of worried me; these are some pretty disturbing and sad pieces. Why do people think they're funny?

Deb Olin Unferth
Writing, Thinking, People

It takes bravery to care for someone — no matter who he is or what made him, whether he is weak or walking or jumping out of windows. The risk involved is enormous.

Deb Olin Unferth
Jumping, Bravery, Risk
Deb Olin Unferth (2008). “Vacation”, McSweeney's

You May Also Like: