Theories of Everything Quotes

“What makes you an adult? he said & I said it's mainly a height requirement & the willingness to keep quiet when people say stupid things.
—Adult Club”
― Brian Andreas, Theories of Everything

“Rules for making the world:
1. Stand up & do the thing you see needs doing.
2. That's it.
(If it was easy, we'd be having a different conversation.)
—Action Plan”
― Brian Andreas, Theories of Everything

“Of course I already know the best thing to do, but it'll have to wait a little while longer. I'm still convinced I can get my own way.
—Best Thing”
― Brian Andreas, Theories of Everything

“I don't think of it as avoiding, he said. I think of it as another opportunity to practice ignoring things that bug me.
—Steady Practice”
― Brian Andreas, Theories of Everything

“I like to live extravagantly in my mind, she said, but in real life I keep to the edges because I bruise easily.
—Fringe Dweller”
― Brian Andreas, Theories of Everything

“I should probably give up pretending I'm going to be somebody someday, he said, but a rich fantasy life is one of my best qualities.
—Fantasy Life”
― Brian Andreas, Theories of Everything

“I've never been good with current events, she told us. I always keep getting bogged down with simple things, like 'why are we here?”
― Brian Andreas, Theories of Everything

“What could go wrong? I said & she shook her head. I thought you had more imagination than that, she said.
—Fertile Imagination”
― Brian Andreas, Theories of Everything

“I know it's best not to be bitter about some of the people I've known, she said, but some days that takes a lot of ignoring the facts.
—Ignoring Facts”
― Brian Andreas, Theories of Everything

“God invents musical theatre. Satan voluntarily opts for Hell.”
― Brian Andreas, Theories of Everything

“Things they tell you before you were born (in case you were wondering why a lot of this stuff seems vaguely familiar) 1. Life will bump up against you & it'll be awhile before you stop taking it personally but the sooner you do that, the easier it gets. 2. It's all about Love. Even the parts you decide are really hard. 3. You're not going to have to do this alone, but you're going to take awhile to figure that out, too, especially if you end up in America.”
― Brian Andreas, Theories of Everything

“Every day they jumped up ready to make the future but at night, laying around & laughing & talking was when the real work got done.
—Real Work”
― Brian Andreas, Theories of Everything

“1. The main thing to know about the future is that it's only good for one thing: it keeps us being all anxious, which is probably exactly what we need to get stuff done.
2. The future doesn't have to look any particular way, but around here, if it doesn't, a lot of people will never speak to you again.
3. The future is a guess. Sometimes you guess right. Be careful with that, because pretty soon you'll be guessing all the time & acting like it's true & next thing you know you'll forget you do your best work in the present.
—Things to Know About the Future”
― Brian Andreas, Theories of Everything

“I'm here to build the future, he said & she looked up & said How about we start you on the present then? & he was fine with that as long as there was a chance to move up & years later, he finally understood why she smiled & let him jump right in.
—Begin Here”
― Brian Andreas, Theories of Everything

“It is not what you first think. There is no effort of will, no firm resolve in the face of this thing called living. There is only paying attention to the quiet each morning, while you hold your cup in the cool air & then that moment you choose to spread your love like a cloth upon the table & invite the whole day in again.”
― Brian Andreas, Theories of Everything

“It's not that I'm not serious, he said. I just don't think of it as a career like the rest of them.
—Serious Decision”
― Brian Andreas, Theories of Everything

“A short list of things you need to know if you want to make sense of any of the rest of it.
1. You know all the times that people say stuff & it sounds like it's absolutely & positively true & then they tell you that You Better Listen if you know what's good for you mister (or Miss, as the case may be) Well, in about 100% of all cases, someone else told them that the very same way & they believed it & now they want you to, too. Don't. That's it for the list. Thank you.
—Need to Know”
― Brian Andreas, Theories of Everything

“I'm really good a breaking down a problem into small enough parts that everything falls through the cracks

& voilá, problem solved.
—Problem Solver”
― Brian Andreas, Theories of Everything

“Deciding everything is falling into place perfectly as long as you don't get too picky about what you mean by place. Or perfectly.
—Falling Into Place”
― Brian Andreas, Theories of Everything

“indulging in his flair for the dramatic & trying not to think about who he's going to have to apologize to tomorrow”
― Brian Andreas, Theories of Everything

“What is your intuition telling you? I said & she shook her head. My intuition is telling me to go back home & take a nap, she said.
—Sixth Sense”
― Brian Andreas, Theories of Everything

“Her big plan has her running the world in the end & the only thing in the way is all the billions of other people who have different plans
—Big Plans”
― Brian Andreas, Theories of Everything

“Today, she decided to be suitably ambiguous, so you can think whatever you like about her.

(Amount of time scheduled for the opinions of others: ZERO)
—Suitably Ambiguous”
― Brian Andreas, Theories of Everything

“Things they don't tell you before you were born (because, most likely, there are quotas & they don't want a lot of people backing out at the last minute)
1. Everything good we're telling you you're going to forget & you'll only start to remember once you give up acting like you know what you're doing. This can take a long time.
2. You're going to end up with people who do crazy stuff, but who act like it's normal & you, who just wants to have fun being alive, have to go along with it so they'll feed you. After a few years like this, you'll start doing the same crazy stuff. (Obviously, we're still working out the kinks.)
3. There'll be so much cool stuff to play with it'll take you awhile to settle down. There's a good chance we'll lose you along the way to some of those things. It's OK. You just die & then we'll tell you everything all over again & we'll all keep our fingers crossed & hope it goes better the next time.”
― Brian Andreas, Theories of Everything

“How's the job hunt going? I said. She sighed. I can't help laughing when people do stupid things, she said, so basically I'm unemployable.”
― Brian Andreas, Theories of Everything

“I usually only listen to talk radio in the car on the way to work, he said. The kind of job I have, he added, it helps to be angry.
—Talk Radio”
― Brian Andreas, Theories of Everything

“I've got three days available in July next year, she said. So, are we going to do this thing or not?
—Calendar Girl”
― Brian Andreas, Theories of Everything

“I always thought there'd be enough time for everything & just today I figured out that's true as long as I don't expect to be alive for it.
—Time for Everything”
― Brian Andreas, Theories of Everything