Mary Gaitskill Quotes

I left home when I was 16 because I was looking for adventure.

I probably dreamt about running off to America or something when I was 16 because it just seemed like I was studying algebra and going, 'What am I going to use this for?'

My earliest thought, long before I was in high school, was just to go away, get out of my house, get out of my city. I went to Medford High School, but even in grade school and junior high, I fantasized about leaving.

I definitely went through some dark teenage years. I wore black raccoon eyeliner every single day. I would be late to school if I didn't have time to put my eyeliner on.

When you are young and rebellious, you don't want to be in the house. You want to be on the block.

Why the hell shouldn't I run away with the circus?

The young are generally full of revolt, and are often pretty revolting about it.

I left home when I was 17 with Joe Williams.

In our deepest places, we all wish we could live like Raoul Duke for a while.

I was a snot-nosed teenage skater at one point, who listened to only punk records and hung around people that had that idea of what is okay to do and what isn't okay to do.

At the age of 14, I ran away from home for four days and hitchhiked around western Pennsylvania and southern Ohio.

All teenagers have this desire to somehow run away.

I was a rebellious adolescent. It was the '60s. Everyone was rebellious. I hated high school.

So I don't think I'm gonna pull my head into my shell just because a bunch of people start acting like idiots.

As a teenager especially, I just wanted to do my thing and not be noticed.

Many a boomerang does not return but chooses freedom instead.

The young always have the same problem – how to rebel and conform at the same time. They have now solved this by defying their parents and copying one another.

I think teenagers at any time are testing to see how far they can go and where authority comes in.

Rebellion is what you make of it. When you've been on a tour bus for two months straight, and then you get in your car and drive wherever you want, that can feel rebellious.

'Born to Run' was a mixture of things but mostly about youth and fantasies.

When you're 15 whatever your parents tell you you should do, you're not going to do it.

I have been told too much - to talk less, to keep my opinions to myself, to not sound intelligent - all this was told to me so that I could fit in. But I never thought I fit in anyway. So if you don't fit in, at least stand out.

I ran away from small-town Canada to London; I ran away from my family because I didn't think I could be the person I was.

I always regret leaving home if I don't get at least four or five surfs in the week before I leave. I try to be in the water as much as possible before leaving, and it's the one thing I miss massively.

People tell you what you have to wear and do, and I've never been a fan of it.