Nick Tosches Quotes

The best thing about writing has been the writer's life, the sense of being expressed, the ownership of the day, the entirely specious sense of freedom we have, however slave we are to some boss or other. I wouldn't trade it for any other life.

The ultimate of being successful is the luxury of giving yourself the time to do what you want to do.

Money won't create success, the freedom to make it will.

To be in a position, at my age, where I am financially independent, I can help develop things, I can promote stuff that I believe in, I can say no a lot and spend time writing - that is a gift.

I never wanted money worries to slow me down or make me take a job I didn't want.

Don't worry about writing a book or getting famous or making money. Just lead an interesting life.

I am a free man. I don't need to earn money. But I need to love what I do.

If there's some triumphant end of the story, I guess in a roundabout way I've gotten what I wanted, which is the ability to do interesting things and the wealth to be free.

Perfect freedom is reserved for the man who lives by his own work and in that work does what he wants to do.

My security comes from the fact that I've never done a job for money.

I get to do what I love and communicate whatever I want.

For me, it is freedom, freedom from everything: when I write, I'm not a woman. I'm not a Muslim. I'm not a Moroccan. I can reinvent myself, and I can reinvent the world.

I really don't want to encourage young people to think that life is about money only. Life is about being able to give yourself choice.

For money, I can buy one thing: I buy freedom.

It's cool having a little bit of money to do your thing.

I'm not obsessed with the idea of fame or lots of money or social power. I can actually do want I want to do - I'm free - isn't that the greatest prize?

I've gone more than 40 years without having to use an alarm clock or go to an office. At this point, I don't think I'd be capable of not writing. I don't think I could deprive myself of that sky. It would be like putting an animal in a cage.

I think a person who takes a job in order to live - that is to say, for the money - has turned himself into a slave. Work begins when you don't like what you're doing. There's a wise saying: make your hobby your source of income. Then there's no such thing as work, and there's no such thing as getting tired. That's been my own experience. I did just what I wanted to do. It takes a little courage at first, because who the hell wants you to do just what you want to do; they've all got lots of plans for you. But you can make it happen.

I actually think leaving your children alone to fantasize, to write, to make projects on their own is good for them. Breathing down their necks is a form of control. Children should have their own space.

Success is doing what you want to do, when you want, where you want, with whom you want, as much as you want.

I've always believed in the concept of retirement. I retired for the first time at age 18 ... from school. To me, retirement means doing what you want to do without worrying about getting paid for it.

Success is the ability to do what you want, whenever you want, as often as you want.

The result of my hard work is that I'm financially independent, I have an amazing life, and I can do whatever I want. I don't have to answer to anybody.

As a writer, you are free.

It's exciting to be able to do something completely independent without anybody challenging it, and it's a big part of the reason why I'm enjoying doing the stand-up comedy, is I'm able to go out and interact with people one-on-one after the show. It's very punk-rock.