So here I am, admitting my failures. I guess this is when things will be taking a turn. My biggest problem: being treating myself way way way too seriously. That complicates things, and worst of all, makes myself feel hurt and sad. It’s not that I didn’t know one shouldn’t treat oneself too seriously. I learnt that while I was in the bay area 2 years ago. I remember how I was mocking those who were serious when I just came back to Singapore. I just forgot. I guess I underestimated the power of peer pressure. Anyways, I’m sooooo glad that this crucial motto is rediscovered, thanks to Jitterbug Perfume, thanks to Tom Robbins the author.
I finished the book this morning. It was no doubt an amazing book, easily my top 3 together with About a Boy and the Help. (Given I haven’t read that many books whatsoever) I was sad and all and couldn’t sleep last night until 3am. So after I finished the Jitterbug Perfume this morning and threw my laundry in the washing machine, I made my way to my favorite Starbucks in the neighborhood and start reading The Well-Grounded Rubyist. Somehow a quote from the Jitterbug Perfume keeps on bugging me. Something about bad habits. So I pull out my phone and looked it up. I ended up with not just the quote I was looking for, but also many more amazingly witty quotes from Tom Robbins. Here:
“People used to die from germs. Now they died from bad habits. That was what Dr. Dannyboy said. Heart disease was caused by bad personal habits, cancer was caused by bad industrial habits, war was caused by bad political habits. Dannyboy believed that even old age was a habit. And habits could be broken.” ― Tom Robbins, Jitterbug Perfume
“People tend the take everything too seriously. Especially themselves. Yep. And that’s probably what makes ‘em scared and hurt so much of the time. Life is too serious to take that seriously.” ― Tom Robbins
“When we’re incomplete, we’re always searching for somebody to complete us. When, after a few years or a few months of a relationship, we find that we’re still unfulfilled, we blame our partners and take up with somebody more promising. This can go on and on–series polygamy–until we admit that while a partner can add sweet dimensions to our lives, we, each of us, are responsible for our own fulfillment. Nobody else can provide it for us, and to believe otherwise is to delude ourselves dangerously and to program for eventual failure every relationship we enter.” ― Tom Robbins
“Our lives are not as limited as we think they are; the world is a wonderfully weird place; consensual reality is significantly flawed; no institution can be trusted, but love does work; all things are possible; and we all could be happy and fulfilled if we only had the guts to be truly free and the wisdom to shrink our egos and quit taking ourselves so damn seriously.” ― Tom Robbins
“We are our own dragons as well as our own heroes, and we have to rescue ourselves from ourselves.” ― Tom Robbins, Still Life with Woodpecker
“There is no such thing as a weird human being, It’s just that some people require more understanding than others.” ― Tom Robbins
“The unhappy person resents it when you try to cheer him up, because that means he has to stop dwelling on himself and start paying attention to the universe. Unhappiness is the ultimate form of self-indulgence. When you’re unhappy, you get to pay a lot of attention to yourself. You get to take yourself oh so very seriously.” ― Tom Robbins, Jitterbug Perfume
“It’s never too late to have a happy childhood.” ― Tom Robbins, Still Life with Woodpecker
“Curiosity, especially intellectual inquisitiveness, is what separates the truly alive from those who are merely going through the motions.” ― Tom Robbins
“You’ve heard of people calling in sick. You may have called in sick a few times yourself. But have you ever thought about calling in well?
It’d go like this: You’d get the boss on the line and say, “Listen, I’ve been sick ever since I started working here, but today I’m well and I won’t be in anymore.” Call in well.” ― Tom Robbins
“You risked your life, but what else have you ever risked? Have you risked disapproval? Have you ever risked economic security? Have you ever risked a belief? I see nothing particularly courageous about risking one’s life. So you lose it, you go to your hero’s heaven and everything is milk and honey ‘til the end of time. Right? You get your reward and suffer no earthly consequences. That’s not courage. Real courage is risking something that might force you to rethink your thoughts and suffer change and stretch consciousness. Real courage is risking one’s clichés.” ― Tom Robbins, Another Roadside Attraction
The super ultra point is, I should quit taking myself too seriously and Tom Robbins is pretty damn awesome. I should read more books of his =) Peace!
*Quotes references: goodreads, secretshelflife