Author: Kelsey Mihachik

“No one had known but me. That had to change, and I was ending the silence right then and there before I let the secrecy go too far. It was such a relief to finally say those things out loud. But it was hard.” – pg. 28

“He later described watching his famous No. 3 car going around the track with someone else behind the wheel as being like ‘watching your wife go on a date with some other guy.’ I have to say that Dad’s assessment was pretty accurate.” – pg. 46

“The biggest lesson I had learned was that I would be honest with myself and everyone else if I ever found myself in that condition again.” – pg. 49

“We’d experienced something together, and we were stronger for it.” – pg. 51

“I told you my mind never stops. It’s always the loudest when I’m in bed.” – pg. 61

“I sound downright nostalgic. I think that’s a pretty big indicator that I was beginning to think about the end of my career, and it was probably happening much sooner than later.” – pg. 66

“I couldn’t make them understand my sense of urgency because I was never being fully honest with them.” – pg. 77

“I’m a lot of things, but sad isn’t one of them.” – pg. 86

“But if someone really loves you, then they also appreciate the things that you love. Amy knew from the very beginning that I loved racing. She was never going to be the person to get in the way of that, even during the times when racing didn’t love me back.” – pg. 106

“I didn’t let myself think about what-ifs when it came to the future. But I sure did a lot of thinking about the what-ifs of the past.” – pg. 129

“I have always had such a great appreciation for all of the people who work so hard just to take care of me and make sure I am where I’m supposed to be and do what I’m supposed to do when I get there.” – pg. 150

“Life’s hurdles come in a variety of forms, none of which are easy. You can prevail.” – pg. 178

“I’m looking forward to seeing you just because you’re you, for no other reason.” – pg. 57

“I don’t quite know who I am, and I have to find out.” – pg. 75

“I know that if I stay in this business I am in for even worse times, and this is something I have to decide for myself — is it all worth it?” – pg. 88

“For his whole life, it was about finding himself. Like the search for himself. And I think, when he was trying to figure out who he was as a comedian, he was trying to figure out himself. […] Garry in life, and in his act, would circle around things. And circle around things. And circle around things. He didn’t care how funny. […] The idea for him wasn’t just to kill in the room. It was to get closer to some idea that he had about himself.” – Ed Solomon, pg. 97

“He approached it from a place of How empty am I? Garry felt like he had finished a journey, and in a way, he was right. I think his whole methodology was to basically fall over the finish line for something.” – John Markus, pg. 110

“The theme itself was the structure of the show, which was breaking the conventions.” – pg. 168

“Don’t identify yourself with your career. You are you. You are not your job.” – pg. 193

“The human condition is hilariously awful.” – pg. 213

“[Garry] took everything that he didn’t want to be in himself and put it in this character. And then mocked it and said, Isn’t this a terrible way to live?” – Judd Apatow, pg. 253

“Garry was such a good writer that it was impossible to rise to his level and have him be satisfied. For the most part you were going to disappoint him because it was like painting with Picasso and he would go, ‘Why are you using red?’ And there was no way to anticipate exactly what he would like and then it would frustrate him.” – Judd Apatow, pg. 257

“It is a show about people trying to get love, and that shit gets in the way. They’re trying to figure out, with a little lack of awareness, how to get past that shit to get to the love.” – pg. 279

“There are people who seek truth and there are people who manipulate truth for their own good. That’s the conflict in life.” – pg. 295

“Just fake it. But Garry could not do that, and the fact that he would bring that to bear on the show, on that scene – his own deep insecurity about not being that hero – was so beautiful and heartbreaking to me.” – David Duchovny, pg. 325

“Garry always used people as touch points. To echolocate or to orient himself. He was just looking to get some sense of sonar about, like, Where am I?” – Ed Solomon, pg. 335

“Except what I really did is, I hadn’t really lived, I’d devoted myself to working, so then I started traveling and leading a life that involved relationships, good relationships with good people.” – pg. 351

“Because like all comics, at some point you start going, Can I survive without it? Who am I without it? […] It’s fucking terrifying. Because what if the train leaves and you can never get back on? That’s the key.” – Jim Carrey, pg. 353

“Garry was a guy that people asked about. If you were known as one of Garry’s friends, people would ask you about Garry.” – David Duchovny, pg. 370

“The journals are all about understanding that this path you and I are talking about now is the most important thing in life. And that show business or anything else is secondary.” – pg. 377

“He went on to explain what [the Ensō] meant for him: that things don’t always have to come to completion. It’s the process. […] He would talk about the process of getting from this point to this point. That’s where the intuition is, that’s where the wisdom is, that’s where you stumble and fall and you get back up.” – Beth D’Angelo, pg. 380

“They say if you worry about the past it’s depression, and if you stress about the future it’s anxiety, and that’s why it’s important to be in the moment.” – Sarah Silverman, pg. 387

“All my journey is is to be authentically who I am. Not trying to be somebody else under all circumstances. […] The whole world is confused because they’re trying to be somebody else. To be your true self takes enormous work.” – pg. 389

“The only UFOs we see are the ones that slow down for a moment to stare the way we all do when there’s an accident on the side of the road.” – pg. 393

“Give more. Give what you didn’t get. Love more. Drop the old story.” – pg. 412

“Humor comes from an objective place, which is where the meditation is: the silence.” – pg. 420

“I read somewhere that grief is not a sign of weakness. Grief is just the price you pay to love someone, and I could tell you that Garry was very, very expensive. And that fucker bankrupted me.” – Kevin Nealon, pg. 443

“The great ones show you what you can get away with. The shitty ones remind you what never to bother with.” – pg. 18

“Any true creative endeavor demands constant evolution, growth, experimentation, and challenge.” – pg. 24

“Movies, to him and the majority of the planet, are an enhancement to a life. The way a glass of wine complements a dinner. I’m the other way around. I’m the kind of person who eats a few bites of food so that my stomach can handle the full bottle of wine I’m about to drink.” – pg. 122

“And it hits me, sitting there with my friends, that for all of our bluster and detailed, exotic knowledge about film, we aren’t contributing anything to film.” – pg. 161

“For whatever it’s worth, it’s never too late – or in my case too early – to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit. Start whenever you want. You can change or stay the same: there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you’ve never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of. And if you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.”

Link to video here.

“My advice to stuck writers who are on their own is to get unstuck by proving how bad you are. Stop trying to prove that you’re a good writer to yourself. That’s what’s probably got you stuck. Because no matter how good you get, you’re always going to think that you should be better than you are… because you want to be a good writer. And you will be by thinking that, but it’s not going to get you writing right now, and the only thing that’s going to make you get better is practicing. And the only thing you’re gonna be able to write right now is something worse than what you think you should be writing. So you have to stop thinking about the thing that you’re eventually gonna be able to do, and you have to start thinking about the thing that you’re terrified you will do – because that will go by very quickly.” – Dan Harmon

Another book that I didn’t find any good pull quotes in, but that I’m happy to have read.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

“The President is always a controversial choice, always an infuriating but fascinating character. His job is not to wield power but to draw attention away from it.” – pg. 28

“If human beings don’t keep exercising their lips, he thought, their mouths probably seize up. After a few months’ consideration and observation he abandoned this theory in favor of a new one. If they don’t keep on exercising their lips, he thought, their brains start working.” – pg. 35

“The main reason he had such a wild and successful life was that he never really understood the significance of anything he did.” – pg. 62

“I don’t know what I’m looking for. […] I think it might be because if I knew I wouldn’t be able to look for them.” – pg. 97

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

“I don’t know what this great thing I’m meant to be doing is, and it looks to me as if I was supposed not to know.” – pg. 164

“Every major Galactic Civilization tends to pass through three distinct and recognizable phases, those of Survival, Inquiry, and Sophistication, otherwise known as the How, Why, and Where phases. For instance, the first phase is characterized by the question, ‘How can we eat?’, the second by the question, ‘Why do we eat?’ and the third by the question, ‘Where shall we have lunch?'” – pg. 245-246

“In an infinite Universe anything can happen. Even survival. Strange but true.” – pg. 275

“How can you have money if none of you actually produces anything?” – pg. 299

“No, I’m very ordinary. But some very strange things have happened to me. You could say I’m more differed from differing.” – pg. 309

Life, the Universe, and Everything

“Time is the worst place, so to speak, to get lost in.” – pg. 315

“There is no point in driving yourself mad trying to stop yourself going mad. You might just as well give in and save your sanity for later.” – pg. 321

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish

“One effect that lingered, though, was his joy at being back.” – pg. 518

“Life speaks with a voice to you, a voice that brings you answers to the questions you continually ask of it.” – pg. 541

“Put away your worries, the world is a good and perfect place. It is in fact very easy.” – pg. 551

“You can’t sustain a story, you know, when the only news is the continuing absence of whatever it is the story’s about.” – pg. 576

“A scientist must also be absolutely like a child. If he sees a thing, he must say that he sees it, whether it was what he thought he was going to see or not. See first, think later, then test. But always see first. Otherwise you will only see what you were expecting.” – pg. 587

Mostly Harmless

“Everybody has their moment of great opportunity in life. If you happen to miss the one you care about, then everything else in life becomes eerily easy.” – pg. 641

“Anything that thinks logically can be fooled by something else that thinks at least as logically as it does.” – pg. 669

“The quality of any advice anybody has to offer has to be judged against the quality of life they actually lead.” – pg. 699

“The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair.” – pg. 720

“Part of solving any problem […] was realizing that you had it.” – pg. 791

“Taking care of yourself is the single most important connection you can make in your life.” – pg. xv

“Don’t wait for happy to happen.” – pg. xix

“You need to identify your fears so they become concrete, and don’t stay muddled and cloudy in your head.” – pg. 23

“When we harbor the negative, we get the negative. When we build the positive, we attract the positive.” – pg. 63

“If you don’t put your needs, your desires, and your dreams first, then you will not succeed.” – pg. 81

“Having some stress is actually good – it keeps us on our toes and builds our emotional endurance.” – pg. 149

“I rarely get stuck in the phase of ‘I wish I had.’ I am much more comfortable in ‘I’m so lucky I have.’” – pg. 190

“Finding pleasure is enjoying the process and not being attached to the outcome.” – pg. 194

“Being motivated to start something feels easy; staying motivated after the novelty wanes is the hard part.” – pg. 214

“Video games are a great analogy for life. You go through levels, get thrown off by obstacles, and face several enemies. The game will become harder and harder, but it’s okay because you become smarter, faster, and more skilled.” – pg. 4

“Not being able to control people and situations doesn’t make you powerless; it just means you have to exercise your power in a different way. If you can’t control people, then control your reaction to them. If you can’t control a situation, then prepare for it.” – pg. 4

“We’re so often fixated on getting people to behave in accordance with what we want that we forget to focus on ourselves.” – pg. 7

“It’s not about getting the role, it’s about doing the audition.” – pg. 24

“When it comes to getting work done and having the opportunity to learn lessons, don’t let your emotions rob you.” – pg. 31

“Ask questions that align with your priorities and ignore all other noise.” – pg. 35

“Stop going around in circles and instead take advantage of your valuable time and make some tough decisions. Step out of the complicated maze you’ve created and take a one-way street to Clarityville.” – pg. 37

“No mistake is too big or small to apologize for, and no ego should be too big to make that apology. The biggest mistake you can make is thinking that an apology doesn’t matter.” – pg. 42

“If you don’t love yourself, you’re probably not the happiest version of yourself, and thus you’re unable to love someone to the best of your ability.” – pg. 64

“I treat my waking hours like I’m making up for the time I’ve spent asleep. I want to do so much in a day that when my head hits the pillow at night, I’m exhausted and feel I’ve earned the right to catch some z’s.” – pg. 70

“But if you have a career or goal that consumes your entire day, you need to like it to succeed. Enjoying what you do is the only way you can commit so much time and energy to your work.” – pg. 70

“You’ll never truly know if you can accomplish something or be great at something if you don’t commit. […] You need to get down on one knee, propose to your decisions, and commit to them for a lifetime.” – pg. 85

“Temptations to slack off will always be there, and that will never change. What has to change is your ability to deal with temptation.” – pg. 90

“You can’t get what you want in life if you don’t know what you want.” – pg. 103

“Talking about something doesn’t make it true. And action is only meaningful if it’s consistent.” – pg. 121

“If you’re trying to set yourself apart, you need to know what has already been done.” – pg. 125

“The thing about the ladder is that no matter how high a rung you reach, there will always be people above you.” – pg. 133

“One of the best feelings in the world is when you know that luck didn’t play a role in your success. Doing work eliminates the need for luck.” – pg. 139

“Deadlines are always easier to follow when they’re public and you’re held accountable for them.” – pg. 144

“No one thing should make or break you.” – pg. 148

“In most negative situations in life, you can create a positive outcome if you just look hard enough.” – pg. 175

“You don’t feel entitled to success – you feel empowered to earn it.” – pg. 179

“There are 7 billion people on the planet. Thats 14 million socks to knock off.” – pg. 182

“The next time you have an idea, recognize that your idea is your baby and if you parent it well, it will grow up to be a wonderful event, product, or campaign. Your baby can change the world, but first you must make a promise to protect it.” – pg. 194

“We all have a carrot dangling above our heads. […] The best relationships are those that not only allow you to have your own unique carrot but also allow you to help your partner reach their carrot.” – pg. 237

“It’s on you to create great opportunities.” – pg. 248

“It’s important to know the difference between supporting people and giving them a free ride.” – pg. 278

“Support those who work hard.” – pg. 281

“Remember who you want to be.” – pg. 287

“You are a part of the human race, and humanity is the biggest and most important team you’ll ever be on.” – pg. 290

“Promoting what you love results in seeing more of what you love in the world.” – pg. 297

“When you really pay attention, there is so much to be grateful for.” – pg. 303

“We all have what it takes to be the best version of ourselves.” – pg. 315

“Everything in life is just getting through bombing. Anything worth having in life, that’s how it works.” – 1/20/20