I'm insecure, and I need the validation of strangers to feel whole. So, I need every single racist 12-year-old on the Internet to like me, or I don't feel complete.
I realize my need to be liked or my need for strangers to rate me well, even with their words and their thoughts, I'm not alone in that, and the whole thing is set up culturally so we feel that way.
We need to break boundaries, so every time I feel like, "Oh snap, oh my God, I don't know how this is gonna be received," I also feel this validation, like, "All the greats, all my favorites have felt this."
With the adult ones, I feel I need to get as deep inside the psychology of a character as I can, and that needs to be first-person. In the children's books, I feel I need some distance. I don't want to be the nine-year-old at the center of the story. I need to have some type of narrative voice.
Inside I feel much like a 12-year-old or a 17-year-old who knows big words.
What makes people weak? Their need for validation and recognition, their need to feel important. Don't get caught in this trap.
I am very content being single. I don't feel the need of someone absolutely having to be with me to make me feel like a woman.
Fans give me abuse all the time. Nearly every team does that. If I wasn't a good player, you wouldn't feel like you need to boo me the whole game. So do that if it makes you feel better, but it does spur me on. It's like, 'You expect something from me; that's why you're doing this,' so I don't mind it. They can boo me all day long, really.
Only sad sacks and conformists need things like no kiss on New Year's Eve to remind them to feel lonely. They're as bad as the people who need St. Patty's Day as an excuse to get drunk or Halloween to wear slutty outfits. You can feel sorry for yourself and dress like a hooker all year round: Hallmark never needs to know.
Success, for me, is being able to wake up in the morning and feel like a 12 year old.
Every woman deserves a man that can make her heart forget that it was ever broken. Even if these have been broken to pieces to me,this represents a person who gave me a complete,flawless heart. I don't need someone who makes my heart whole. Instead, I need someone who will never let me feel broken. This is a good sign, having a broken heart. It means we have tried for something.
My vision is that schools need to be community centers. Schools need to be open 12, 13, 14 hours a day six, seven days a week, 12 months out of the year, with a whole host of activities, particularly in disadvantaged communities.
To me, Dan Evans is an example of somebody that puts the clock back a little bit and tells everybody: 'Listen, tennis is not a freak sport where you need to have rich parents, who sit in your players' box for every single week of the whole year, and you need to talk to your coaches' box between every shot.'
It's a part of my lifestyle to be healthy and eat healthy. I don't feel like I need to be like, 'You can't have this. You can't have that. You have to have this. You have to have that,' because then I feel like I will get inconsistent. I indulge when I want to, but try to be healthy every single day, too.
Love who you are, and you're good enough, and you don't need to feel like you need to apologize for who you are, and you don't need to feel like you need to try to be someone you're not.
When I naturally write a story and I feel that the guy is sitting across the table from the girl and flirting with her... I think, 'God, that can't be me' because I'm just too old for that part. You need a 30-year-old or a 35-year-old for that part. And so I've given myself less and less roles.
I think sometimes when you can feel the velocity of change, like nowadays, you really need a seat belt. It's almost like having a growth spurt that you can feel, like a 16-year-old who woke up one day and grew four inches literally overnight. That can be a painful thing sometimes.