Kathy Acker Quotes

Civilization is a conspiracy. Modern life is the silent compact of comfortable folk to keep up pretences.

The whole system of society tells you what to do.

[A] man and still more the woman, who can be accused either of doing "what nobody does," or of not doing "what everybody does," is the subject of as much depreciatory remark as if he or she had committed some grave moral delinquency.

All of us have to be prevaricators, hypocrites, and liars every day of our lives; otherwise the social structure would fall into pieces the first day. We must act in one another's presence just as we must wear clothes. It is for the best

In civilized life, where the happiness, and indeed almost the existence, of man depends so much upon the opinion of his fellow men, he is constantly acting a studied part.

People are either attracted to the unseemly or disapproving of it, or both; yet we try to sound superior to the unseemly by pretending to be amused by it or indifferent to it.

Public opinion is a permeating influence, and it exacts obedience to itself; it requires us to drink other men's thoughts, to speak other men's words, to follow other men's habits.

What is called good society is usually nothing but a mosaic of polished caricatures.

Often we don't notice the stringent rules to which our culture subjects us.

Everybody in the world has a different reason for wishing they could say things that most people know not to say.

Men have to do some awfully mean things to keep up their respectability.

The characters are trapped within the lifestyle. It's about what goes on before the movie starts.

I know divers, and divers men know me, which love me as I do them: yet if I should pray them, when I meet them in the street openly, they would abhor me; but if I pray them where they be appointed to meet me secretly, they will hear me and accept my request.

I think behind closed doors people behave differently no matter what period we're looking at, because people have to stand up straight in public but can slouch behind closed doors - can you imagine wearing those corsets?

We would all love to walk up to someone and shoot them in the head, there's no doubt about that. We're too civilised to admit it, but we're happy to read about it.

If society fits you comfortably enough, you call it freedom.

As a rule, I am very careful to be shallow and conventional where depth and originality are wasted.

Conventional people are roused to fury by departure from convention, largely because they regard such departure as a criticism of themselves.

The moral disapprobation of society has an impact on behavior in societies.

I think people love it when anybody acts bad; it's not particular to me.

We are half ruined by conformity, but we should be wholly ruined without it.

Why can't somebody give us a list of things that everybody thinks and nobody says, and another list of things that everybody says and nobody thinks.

People are less likely to think it's immoral to walk away from their home if they know others who have done so. And if enough people do it, the stigma begins to erode.

It's always been like this since the beginning of time. You interact with one female or somebody that people will think you'll cute with and everybody either assumes that you're dating or they want you date. It's just how it all works.

We all have to wear social masks in our daily lives to get by.