Author: Kelsey Mihachik

“If you aren’t in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?” – T.S. Eliot, pg. 39

“A lot of people think they know exactly what they want. They become so adamant that it can only be one way that they end up missing out on all of the other amazing things that can happen.” – pg. 66

“If I was going to have an encounter with someone famous, I wanted it to be a hang, not some awkwardly forced fan moment.” – pg. 70

“One of the most important things I’ve learned is that it’s not about what you think you know; it’s about knowing what you don’t know. It can be the difference between living your dream or dying in someone else’s.” – pg. 102

“When I’m good, I’m good. When I’m no good, I’m better.” – pg. 141

“Empowerment has nothing to do with the way you look and has everything to do with how you feel and who you are.” – pg. 168

“I think it’s crazy that we let words have so much power over us. As a woman, the word ‘cunt’ doesn’t bother me any more than any other word because, you know what, some people are cunts. Which could be a compliment or an insult. Either way, it’s the truth.” – pg. 233

“I just think people need to lighten the fuck up. If you didn’t take yourself so seriously, those words wouldn’t give you an emotional conniption.” – pg. 236

“The beautiful thing about memories is that every single day is an opportunity to make new ones.” – pg. 242

“When you build something up that much, it can never live up to your expectations.” – pg. 252

“Nobody is who you build them up to be in your head. Nobody.” – pg. 256

“The Japanese say you have three faces. The first face, you show to the world. The second face, you show to your close friends and family. The third face, you never show to anyone. It is the truest reflection of who you are.” – pg. 262

“How the fuck do you not give a fuck and give all the fucks at the same time? It’s the key to life.” – pg. 271

“The big reveal is that truth is in the dead space, the breathing, and the pauses, not in the questions and answers.” – pg. 339

“I’m not trying to be brave. I’m just trying to be me.” – pg. 430

“Mathematics may be the more sophisticated and elegant language of the universe, but down here on planet earth, it doesn’t hold a candle to cursing, its way cuter and far more relatable, colloquial cousin (twice removed).” – pg. 433

“There is a fuck hidden deep inside of each and every one of us. It’s up to you to find it and give it!” – pg. 434

“Right now, as you read this, we are flying. We are born flying and we die flying. We’ve never not been flying.” – pg. 24

“I really identified as a Bostonian for the first time in my life. I drew strength from it. My wife wasn’t from Boston – she sucks! I’m from Boston – I’ll get through this!” – pg. 84

“I knew crying was like throwing up for your soul. You never really want to, but you know you’ll feel better if you can just get it over with.” – pg. 86

“God is the name of the blanket we throw over the mystery to give it shape.” – Barry Taylor, pg. 149

“Comedians will never feel at home in the clapping masses. We will always crave to be seated at the table of misfits in the back, cracking sarcastic jokes.” – pg. 211

“I was riding with Bill Burr in a golf cart in between takes when he said to me, ‘Look at this! Your own fucking HBO show. If this doesn’t make you happy, nothing will!’ Bill had no idea.” – pg. 243

“Go ahead, live in the world. Make mistakes, get your heart broken, lose your job, fight with your mother, eat the fucking onion dip… Just don’t forget who you are.” – pg. 253

“Look at the follies and trials and pains of your life as what they really are: good episodes. Boyfriend cheated on you? Good episode. Backstabbed by your best friend? Whoa. We have to watch the next one.” – pg. 253

“The final step in every hero’s journey is to come back. You return to the village, the same but different.” – pg. 293

Time is the most expensive luxury in the world
It’s something you spend and never get back
But you never know how much you have left

“Instead of being competitive, I wanted to be collaborative.” – pg. 1

“Failure is the thing that has transformed some of the most successful people in history.” – pg. 24

“Being in demand means I have talent, but watching others in my orbit succeed means I have a legacy.” – pg. 39

“Being grateful actually promotes psychological and emotional healing. Science! Imagine being content with what you have and not obsessed with wanting more, more, more.” – pg. 51

“As long as you’re making strides towards your goal, […] don’t get frustrated about how long it’s taking.” – pg. 63

“For the kind of career that endures, there is no shortcut.” – pg. 63

“The more success you find in any type of work, the less time you actually have to do that work.” – pg. 69

“Figuring out what success means to you is the most critical element of creating an awesome life.” – pg. 72

“There’s a difference between working hard and burning out.” – pg. 82

“What everyone craves these days is authenticity.” – pg. 101

“It’s a practice every day to stay humble and not be affected by any additional attention.” – pg. 104

“Whatever your dreams, they should be about expanding who you are rather than fitting into someone else’s vision of who you should be.” – pg. 129

“Here’s a simple fact that society doesn’t tell us nearly enough: It’s okay to change your mind.” – pg. 131

“Age twenty-seven is your return to Saturn – basically when the planet returns to where it was when you were born. It’s an internal cue that you need to grow up. To that end, your late twenties and early thirties are usually when you figure out what you want to do with your life.” – pg. 132

“One simple way to shift your thinking is to focus on gratitude. You might list five things you’re thankful for each day. Or maybe you write one daily note of appreciation to a person who did something nice for you. […] Maybe take a minute before bed to remember something good that happened to you that day.” – pg. 139

“Practice shifting your thoughts into a more positive, less fear-based place.” – pg. 140

“Get really, really good at whatever it is you do. […] And while you’re honing your skills, make it a priority to seek out a mentor.” – pg. 146

“I am all about aesthetic and liking the way you look. There’s so much power in feeling good about yourself, inside and out.” – pg. 157

“The people who manage their growing careers best are those who have valued and prioritized self-care throughout the journey, so start now.” – pg. 175

“It really feels like we’ve stopped living our own lives to watch everyone else’s.” – pg. 179

“You will not find any version of balance in your life if you don’t let people you trust take things off your plate.” – pg. 184

“Do the best you can, but don’t beat yourself up when you can’t.” – pg. 200

“Never lose sight of the power of being a good person.” – pg. 236

“I can hold a grudge like it’s a hand.” – pg. 12

“I always liked it when it’s sunny and warm. You like it cold ’cause you’re from the north.” – pg. 39

“Looks like you always seem to get what you want. Even when it goes against the natural odds.” – pg. 39

“I fall in love like every week.” – pg. 73

“I find a million dandelions blowing through my head and they are beautiful.” – pg. 80

“I’m half of everything I hate, and half of anything I create is you too. […] So I’ll start to hate my future when I hate you” – pg. 85 & 98

“How strange to write about ‘having’ when for so long I’ve drawn inspiration only from longing?” – pg. 103

“Does it arouse us, to watch the smoke? The lingering aftermath of the thing that we feign control of, but are at the mercy of?” – pg. 113

“Of all the wrongs you committed, the worst was keeping me from the beauty in anything that wasn’t you.” – pg. 131

“If you are looking to see what everyone else is doing to try to be cool, you are probably not cool.” – pg. 30

“People treat having a kid as somehow retiring from success. […] Being happy is really the definition of success, isn’t it?” – pg. 54

“I don’t want you to think I don’t love my extended family. I do. I just don’t want to be around them.” – pg. 227

“The feeling of being overwhelmed overwhelms me.” – pg. 230

“Every night before I get my one hour of sleep, I have the same thought: ‘Well, that’s a wrap on another day of acting like I know what I’m doing.’“ – pg. 266

“Why is false love so proud, and true love so fearful?” – pg. 42

“One day, if you live long enough, you’ll find that more people have forgotten you than still remember you.” – pg. 221

“Most of life, in Larry’s view, was in fact mundane and annoying, like losing your car in the parking lot or having to talk to old friends with whom you no longer have anything in common. Larry wanted to find the funny in those situations.” – pg 32

“I think that what goes on in people’s lives is that most of their mind, most of the day, is occupied with tiny struggles. That’s what people’s lives are about.” – Larry David, pg. 35

“There are just some people who literally have funny lives and things happen to them that sound like stories.” – Jerry Seinfeld, pg. 35

“I feel I am completely devoid of experiences. Other people, they travel, they do things, they have a life. My experiences are so minor. I go for acupuncture or I see something strange on the subway.” – Larry David, pg. 36

“He was afraid that he wouldn’t be funny anymore if he was happy.” – Laurie Lennard, pg. 38

“I’m not allowed to complain anymore about anything. And I feel very restricted by that. I mean, I’m a guy who’s complained his whole life, and all of a sudden I can’t say a word.” Larry David, pg. 42

“Having money did nothing to satisfy his need to work and to be funny.” – pg. 42

“You needn’t love yourself to be a narcissist; you can be just as transfixed by self-loathing.” – Esquire, pg. 67

“Positive is not funny. Nobody laughs at positive. […] But there’s funny in the negative. When you speak in negative terms, the more negative it is, the funnier it is.” – Larry David, pg. 83

“Celebrities are as trivial as us, they just get to express it more.” – pg. 134

“A life-changing experience isn’t, as it turns out, exactly the same as a personality-changing experience.” – pg. 226

“Larry David has said that he needs a great idea or premise to write a great episode.” – pg. 251

“You have to be away from something to really appreciate it.” – pg. 282

“Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been infatuated, had crushes, slept with, fucked, and dated many people in my life, but it always faded. I didn’t and don’t like wasting time with someone I know isn’t for me, so nothing ever lasted very long.” – pg. 20

“Being out of control in love is glorious. […] But being out of control in heartbreak…? I wouldn’t wish that upon anyone.” – pg. 27

“There’s one general store everyone goes to. It must be nice to have less options. I feel overwhelmed with options.” – pg. 125

“The things we are most afraid of are the things that will ultimately change our whole makeup.” – pg. 157

“The problem with searching is that you often find everything but the thing you’re looking for.” – pg. 179

“I have been learning how to confidently say no. No for me now is all about making room for more Yes.” – pg. 188

“Memories fascinate me, how they gain or lose weight over time, always fluctuating, […] becoming lighter or heavier the more they need attention.” – pg. 221

“I thought about how pain is also a symptom of transformation. I thought about bouncing back. How we can start again. And again.” – pg. 281

“I hope I’m fulfilled creatively.” – pg. 304

“Love revealed how covered up I was, but heartache broke me open.” – pg. 311

“I began to discover that, if I put the work in before going to bed, I often had a little creative idea overnight.” – pg. 15

“Creative people are much better at tolerating the vague sense of worry that we all get when we leave something unresolved. So if […] you can tolerate that anxiety, you will be able to give yourself the time to come up with a better decision.” – pg. 45

“In order to remove interruptions, […] you have to create a safe place, where you can play. This involves first creating boundaries of space, and then boundaries of time.” – pg. 49

“You go backwards and forwards between the creative mode of thinking and the analytical mode of thinking until, finally, you get to something that’s a bit special. This back-and-forth process is called iteration. It’s what creative people do all the time.” – pg. 64

“Even the very best minds seem to produce work that can divide itself into three stages. First, they produce original work as they learn their craft; second, when they’ve mastered their craft, they begin to express their mature ideas in their best works; third, there’s a tailing-off of their powers, as their insights become more familiar.” – pg. 80

“Others […] never lose their ability to come up with fresh ideas. In other words, they learn to nurture their unconscious, and to trust it. […] The great mathematician John Conway spent much of his time playing games. Playing… keeps you ‘fresh.'” – pg. 81

“Remember just one thing: ‘Brevity is the soul of wit.’ […] Remember the famous apology, ‘Sorry this is such a long letter, but I didn’t have time to write a shorter one.'” – pg. 90