John Darnielle Quotes

Are you angry? Punch a pillow. Was it satisfying? Not hardly. These days people are too angry for punching. What you might try is stabbing. Take an old pillow and lay it on the front lawn. Stab it with a big pointy knife. Again and again and again. Stab hard enough for the point of the knife to go into the ground. Stab until the pillow is gone and you are just stabbing the earth again and again, as if you want to kill it for continuing to spin, as if you are getting revenge for having to live on this planet day after day, alone.

I have a lot of aggression in me that needs to come out in a not-very-precise or articulate way.

It's nice to let some anger out sometimes.

I just put my anger and resentment into basketball. Even the stuff from my childhood.

I cry intermittently, like a summer rain. I don't feel racked by the crying; in fact, it hydrates me. Then rage wells up in me, and I want to take a crowbar to all the cars in the neighborhood.

Letting off steam always produces more heat than light.

Expressing anger is a form of public littering.

I think I cry when I'm angry. I let it go that way.

I don't think I threw myself into music because I had the best intentions; it was because I was really angry.

I'll keep venting my anger through my films.

I'm almost always trying to be funny, even when I'm on my own. I think it's the desire to channel my anger and frustration into something more positive than sitting at home being unpleasant.

Often, we feel helpless in lots of situations in our lives. The way anger gets a grip on us is it seems to be a way to extricate ourselves from helplessness.

Swearing's my release. It's the one weapon I have to defend myself against destiny when it elects to strike without pity.

Actually doing a song, going to the studio, and just getting out on paper your anger makes you feel a little better sometimes.

Sometimes we equate anger to destructive physical violence, but anger need not be martial.

A lot of people are upset when you work out your anger issues, but there's a big industry for music which is furious and angry because, in my opinion, the world is looking for a justification to feel the same way.

Some people say, “Never let them see you cry.” I say, if you’re so mad you could just cry, then cry. It terrifies everyone.

Bad temper is its own safety valve. He who can bark does not bite.

It's music rage, which is like road rage, only more righteous. When you get road rage, a tiny part of you knows you're being a jerk, but when you get music rage, you're carrying out the will of God, and God wants these people dead.

Sometimes, when you're so sad you don't know what to do, it helps to be angry.

I love smashing stuff.

I love punching the ceiling with my fists when I'm lost or I can't find a parking space.

I turned to music originally because of my past and needing a release or an outlet to get out anger or frustration or hurt.