This is me.

fav quotes from the united states of leland. loverly insanely fantastic movie. and everyone should see it.

The worst part is knowing that there is goodness in people. Mostly it stays deep down and buried. Maybe we don't have God because we're scared of the bad stuff. Maybe we're really scared of the good stuff. Because if there's no God, well, that means it's inside of us and we could be good all the time if we wanted. So when we do bad things, it'd be because we want to or because we have to. Or maybe we just need the bad stuff to remind us what the good stuff is in the first place.

I think there are two ways you can see the world. You either see the sadness that's behind everything or you choose to keep it all out.

It covers my eyes. It's all I can see. Say there's some kids playing baseball. All I see is the one kid they won't let play because he tells corny jokes. And no-one thinks they're funny. Or I see a boy and a girl in love and kissing, you know. I just see that they're gonna be one of those sad old couples one day who just cheats on each other and can't even look at each other in the eye. And I feel it. I feel all of their sadness. I feel it probably even worse than that sad old couple or that corny kid will ever feel it.

Sometimes the most important stuff goes away. Goes away so bad it's like it was never there to begin with.

And that's when I figured out that tears couldn't make somebody who was dead alive again. There's another thing to learn about tears, they can't make somebody who doesn't love you any more love you again. It's the same with prayers. I wonder how much of their lives people waste crying and praying to God. If you ask me, the devil makes more sense than God does. I can at least see why people would want him around. It's good to have somebody to blame for the bad stuff they do. Maybe God's there because people get scared of all the bad stuff they do. They figure that God and the Devil are always playing this game of tug-of-war game with them. And they never know which side they're gonna wind up on. I guess that tug-of-war idea explains how sometimes, even when people try to do something good, it still turns out bad.

Maybe it makes sense now. Maybe somewhere in all of this there's a reason. Maybe somewhere in all of this there's a why. Maybe somewhere there's that thing that lets you tie it all up with a neat bow and bury it in the backyard. But nothing, not getting angry, not prayers, and not tears, nothing can make something that happened unhappen.

I recall when our lives were unusual and electric. When we burned with something close to fire. But now we sway to a different rhythm. Lives lived without meaning or even directed hope. The passage of time measured only by loss.

Sometimes people say things that they know aren't totally true but they say them anyways because they want them to be true. And maybe that's good enough.

leland: I don't think I know what the definition of love is.
pearl: Well you know in you heart if you love somebody.
leland: But its not in your heart. Love's on you tongue, its a word, that's all

Love is when you can't get somebody out of your mind; when they are your first thought in the morning and your last thought at night. Maybe its not in your heart, but in your head.

Love is only a great thing because you know what it's like to have your heart broken; what its like to be alone.

posted by Andie @ Saturday, June 24, 2006 Comments: 1