Jeffrey Eugenides Quotes

I don't know what 'normal' means, anyway.

I don't know if I'm 'normal.'

I dress normal because I want people to treat me regular. And their brains explode. It's really fun.

Is anyone human actually normal? I'm beginning to think being normal is actually abnormal.

Dean: Don't you find that somewhat of an aberration? Doesn't this disturb you my dear? After all, it's not normal. Molly: I know it's not normal for people in this world to be happy, and I'm happy.

A lot of people are scared. It's the way you're raised. The way you've been told your whole life, that you've got to do this and that. Get a job, go to school. So, a lot of people are scared to just do what they really want. They're worried about what people will think and stuff like that. It's just fear.

The Normal is the good smile in a child's eyes- all right. It is also the dead stare in a million adults. It both sustains and kills- like a God. It is the Ordinary made beautiful; it is also the Average made leathal. The Normal is the indispensable, murderous God of Health.

Is it you and I who are crazy, or is it everybody else?

Perhaps a normal man is supposed to be stupid-how do we know? Perhaps it's even very beautiful.

We arrange our lives-even the best and boldest men and women that exist, just as much as the most limited-with reference to what society conventionally rules and makes right.

People are really concerned about my relationship status. When I tell people I'm happy being single, they don't believe me. They say: 'You have to be miserable being alone'.

If you spend too much time worrying about how other people perceive you, you'll never break the rules.

I believe so many people live what I call that false identity they are living according to other people's expectations, associations, their experiences, the labels in life. And they buy into that.

I always wonder why some people see things as weird and some people don't.

The hardest work most of us do is maintaining the appearance of normality.

I asked you, baby, If you understood- You told me that you didn't, But you thought you would.

Tell me, he said, "What is this thing about time? Why is it better to be late than early? People are always saying, we must wait, we must wait. what are they waiting for?" "Well […] I guess people wait in order to make sure of what they feel." "And when you have waited—-has it made you sure?

And even though people like to furrow their brow like they suspect you're not being honest about yourself, the truth is that they worry that you're not serving their idea of you.

Fancy tortures more people than does reality

Pretending to be 'normal' is a lot harder than you think.

People tell me what to do every single day. They think I'm boring. I'm Disney kid. So, there's that.

The truth is rarely as dreadful or as terrifying as what one imagines.

I knew that this job would be too much for me.

The bad times I can handle. It's the good times that drive me crazy. When is the other shoe going going to drop?

But it's strange, when you've always been told something is true, like the moon will come back. You need proof. And while you wait, you feel the entire balance of your world just tipping. It's crazy. But when it's over, and it does come back, that's the best, because it's all you want, everything narrows to just that. It's this great rush, like for that one second everything's okay with the world again. It's amazing.