Chuck Palahniuk Quote

"What we don't understand we can make mean anything."
Chuck Palahniuk

This goes for all the things that people don't know. You can assign meaning wherever you want when you are ignorant. Science becomes magic, other people different from you are evil, and so on.

Ambrose Bierce Quote

"Politeness, n. The most acceptable hypocrisy."
Ambrose Bierce (The Devil's Dictionary)

And that’s all it ever is. There is nothing sincere behind it, there is no value to it, all it is is just small-talk.

H.L. Mencken Quote

"A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin."
H. L. Mencken 
And what's wrong with that? There is a good chance that there will be one.

John Adams Quote

“Power always thinks... that it is doing God's service when it is violating all his laws.”
John Adams

That goes for all the supposedly moral, supposedly righteous people who seek to inflict their concept of righteousness on the world.

Philip Roth Life Lesson Quote

"...the world is full of people who go around believing they've got you or your neighbor figured out, there really is no bottom to what is not known. The truth about us is endless. As are the lies."
Philip Roth from The Human Stain

This is the source of racism as well as countless other types of human folly. Everything people think they know about other people. People love to feel wise and smart, and in control of the facts, except nobody really is, so that kind of knowledge really is just another form of BS.

Chuck Palahniuk Life-Lesson Quote

"You have a choice. Live or die. Every breath is a choice. Every minute is a choice. To be or not to be." 
Chuck Palahniuk

You are alive because you want to live, don't you forget that. If you have not yet committed suicide, don't pretend that you secretly want, because you are making the same breath-to-breath choices as the rest of us.

Cormac McCarthy Quote

"Nobody wants to be here and nobody wants to leave."
Cormac McCarthy, The Road

In context, the quote is about life and death. In other words, life sucks but nobody wants to die, which is basically what The Road was all about. No matter how utterly miserable life gets, most people are still going to want to live, badly enough to put up with anything.