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David Rakoff Quotes - Page 2

One of the marks of a life well lived has to be reaching a state of finally getting it, of not needing more, and of being able to sign off with something approaching peace of mind.

One of the marks of a life well lived has to be reaching a state of finally getting it, of not needing more, and of being able to sign off with something approaching peace of mind.

David Rakoff
Mind, Able, Reaching
"I'm Dying to Meet You in the Next Life" by Dwight Eschliman, www.gq.com. August 13, 2012.

I had a tumor. But it was great.

David Rakoff
Tumors

I am going to the bad place, as is my wont.

David Rakoff

I do not go outdoors. Not more than I have to. As far as I'm concerned, the whole point of living in New York City is indoors. You want greenery? Order the spinach.

David Rakoff
New York, Order, Cities
David Rakoff (2002). “Fraud: Essays”, p.7, Anchor

There are many things in this world that are an outrage, to be sure, but death at our current life expectancy doesn’t strike me as one of them. Maybe I sound like some Victorian who felt that forty years ought to be enough for any man, but one of the marks of a life well lived has to be reaching a state of finally getting it, of not needing more, and of being able to sign off with something approaching peace of mind.

David Rakoff
Men, Years, Mind

I am neither spontaneous nor ready for anything.

David Rakoff
Spontaneity, Spontaneous, Ready
David Rakoff (2005). “Don't Get Too Comfortable: The Indignities of Coach Class, The Torments of Low Thread Count, The Never- Ending Quest for Artisanal Olive Oil, and Other First World Problems”, p.76, Anchor

You can't win all the contests and then lose at one contest and say, 'Why am I not winning this contest as well?' It's random. So truthfully, again, do I wish it weren't me? Absolutely. I still can't make that logistic jump to thinking there's a reason why it shouldn't be me.

David Rakoff
Winning, Thinking, Wish
"David Rakoff's 'Half Empty' Worldview Is Full Of Wit". "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross, www.npr.org. September 21, 2010.

Have you ever had one of those moments when you know that you're being visited by your own future? They come so rarely and with little fanfare, those moments. They're not particularly photogenic. There's no breach in the clouds to reveal the shining city on a hill. No folk dancing children outside your bus, no production values to speak of- just a glimpse of such quotidian, incontrovertible truth that after the initial shock at the supreme weirdness of it all, a kind of calm sets in. So this is to be my life.

David Rakoff
Children, Cities, Clouds

Simplicity, it seems, has always been wasted on those who simply cannot appreciate it

David Rakoff
Inspiration, Appreciate, Simplicity
David Rakoff (2005). “Don't Get Too Comfortable: The Indignities of Coach Class, The Torments of Low Thread Count, The Never- Ending Quest for Artisanal Olive Oil, and Other First World Problems”, p.30, Anchor

New York is breaking my heart. I’ve often said that it’s like having a really interesting boyfriend suddenly becoming really, really into wine, and having to have endless conversations about it.

David Rakoff
New York, Heart, Wine

There's nothing particularly wrong with being more pessimistic than optimistic. Optimism is broad-based, non-detail-oriented thinking; pessimism is detail-oriented thinking.

David Rakoff
Optimistic, Thinking, Optimism

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