Merrill Markoe Quotes & Sayings

Whatever behavior you've experienced from people in the past, expect them to do it again and again and again. — Merrill Markoe

And Mom? You're a good girl."
"Thank you. That's very sweet of you, Chuck"
Though what I was really thinking was: This is too fucking weird. — Merrill Markoe

The day is divided into two important sections: Mealtimes and everything else. — Merrill Markoe

I sometimes look into the face of my dog Stan and see a wistful sadness and existential angst, when all he is actually doing is slowly scanning the ceiling for flies. — Merrill Markoe

When you have been writing for a lot of years, you have to make an effort not to start repeating yourself. It occurred to me that I tended to tread certain ground automatically, because it was comfortable, but that there were areas I avoided automatically because they made me nervous. — Merrill Markoe

Younger love, it seemed, was mainly about the idea of potential
the illusion that magical transformations were bound to occur when the person you think you love has a miraculous impromptu awakening after some metaphorical lightning bolt, made out of your wishes and projections, suddenly brings them to their senses. On the other hand, older love is all about what you are hoping is still possible, after you have mourned the death of the idea of yourself as manufacturer of miracles. Older love starts with the unpleasant truth that expecting a person to change for the better spontaneously, simply because you wish it, makes as much sense as counting on the lottery for next month's rent. — Merrill Markoe

Well, there's two kinds of peeing ... There's regular peeing, because you have to pee. And then there's auxiliary competitive peeing. For acquiring empire. I'm all about the real estate. — Merrill Markoe

I really enjoyed Merrill Markoe's Guide To Glamorous Living, which was a weird hybrid reality/sketch thing I wrote, directed, and hosted, with two male-model bimbos whom I made agree with everything I said. — Merrill Markoe

Men who have a lot of charm have it in place of something real that you are eventually going to want from them and find that they do not have. — Merrill Markoe

A wacky, trendy outfit on a guy over 40 indicates he's got big issues. — Merrill Markoe

Though it seems like time itself moves more slowly when you're in the presence of people who actually see and hear you. There's a certain weight to a moment that never comes when you feel invisible. — Merrill Markoe

Come on! You must have at least suspected there was someone else," he said. "Couldn't you smell her on his pants? — Merrill Markoe

It's surely no accident that there are horoscopes in Vogue, Glamour, Mademoiselle, Woman, New Woman, Elle and Cosmo ... but not Sports Illustrated, GQ, Esquire, Field & Stream or Guns & Ammo. — Merrill Markoe

A more complex - but only slightly more original - way to feel out of it is available at the hip and pretentious nightclubs and bars along the Sunset Strip. — Merrill Markoe

Of the things I know to be true in life, right at the top of the list of irrefutable truths is, "No one ever listens to anyone." It might even be No. 1. — Merrill Markoe

At least watching dirty movies can be kind of fascinating if they aren't too horribly strange. And even the horribly strange ones are still more interesting than televised sports. — Merrill Markoe

Every moment of your life that is not a complete nightmare is happiness. — Merrill Markoe

I'm clear with all my bitches ... I hump her till she bites me. Then it's adios bitches, time for BALL. — Merrill Markoe

I don't know if you can empathize, but it hurts when someone you love dumps you."
"You're joking, right?" said Chuck. "How do you think I wound up in the pound? At least grid boy didn't try to have you gassed. I still don't know what I did to those people. Or why you like that grid asshole so much."
"He's not only an asshole," I said, sorry to have to defend him. "At first he was smart and sexy and fun."
"How was he fun?" said Chuck. "Did he play ball? No. Did he bring meaty snacks? No. And he made such a big fucking deal when I drooled on his pants. How much fun was that? — Merrill Markoe

Beware the cute, hot guy who kind of reminds you of the parent you don't get along with: your cold, distant father who left when you were a kid or your hot-tempered mother whom you could never please. — Merrill Markoe

As you can imagine this is a very emotional moment for me because Dave promised me many times that I was the only woman he would ever cheat on. — Merrill Markoe

I don't like the celebrity gossip culture, and I certainly don't want to contribute to it. I don't care about the Kardashians, or any of them. — Merrill Markoe

I learned to cope with my needs for attention by creating my own private personal rituals to make myself feel special. — Merrill Markoe

They were soul mates, my mother and father. They claimed to adore each other, as if the word 'adore' meant 'argue with ceaselessly. — Merrill Markoe

You just never know when it might be cookie time. And, that is what the dogs have taught me. — Merrill Markoe

No one would argue against the fact that L.A. leads the country in opportunities for being hip and pretentious. — Merrill Markoe

Maybe this is kind of cliche, but animals, well, dogs, are what I do for a living. One reason I like spending time with them so much is they seem to think people are really good. They live with us, and obey our rules, most of which make no sense to them. And the main reason they do it is because they like us. When I watch them, sometimes I'm so blow away by how enthusiastic they are about everything we do that I have to go out and buy them something squeaky or chewy. Just because I love proving to them that it's not a mistake to see the world as a great benevolent place. I hope one day to react to something with as much pure ecstasy as I see in Chuck's face every time I throw the ball. Sometimes he looks so happy, it reminds me of the way blind people smile way too big because they can't see themselves. And if none of this links to anything in you, well ... I think you don't know who I am. — Merrill Markoe

More than any other personality trait, my mother seemed to be ruled by anger and sadness. She seemed to hate being a mother. Watching her unhappiness as I grew up made me conclude that the answer was to try and be as unemotional as I could, which many therapists have taught me is a bad idea. It also made me want to avoid marriage and having children. — Merrill Markoe

Why do you always come in to kiss me while I'm on the toilet?" I asked.
"Makes us feel close to you," Chuck said, surprised I would ask. "Peeing is one of the special things we share. — Merrill Markoe

The whole narcissism and echo syndrome is usually the result of early childhood training. Those are very hard habits for anyone to break. — Merrill Markoe

I care about being creative and productive. — Merrill Markoe

Whenever I encountered a slide show titled 'Eight Diet Foods That Pack on the Pounds' or 'Celebrity Fashion Fails,' I'd have to stop and investigate because hey, it might be information I'd need in some unforeseeable future where I had become, for some reason, a fat celebrity. — Merrill Markoe

In a way, watching an attractive, potentially dangerous guy play guitar is a little like watching a tiger agree to do tricks for his trainer. You know that they could just turn and kill you. But you're so flattered and pleased that instead they agreed to stand on a decorative box and wave and count for the crowd that for a while you forget how big the scary part of them really is. — Merrill Markoe

To find the right person, you must first BE the right person. — Merrill Markoe

Here's what I learned: First thing in the morning, before I have drowned myself in coffee, while I still have that sleepy brain I used to believe was useless - that is the best brain for creative writing. Words come pouring out easily while my head still feels as if it is full of ground fog, wrapped in flannel and gauze, and surrounded by a hive of humming, velvety sleep bees. — Merrill Markoe

Men, as a general rule, shy away from therapy because there is no obvious way to keep score. — Merrill Markoe

I've made my life's work spotting assholes. And you know, I think it's harder now than ever before because there's so many socially acceptable ways to exhibit a pathological lack of empathy. — Merrill Markoe

My mother ... took the fact that my taste differed from hers as a personal insult. — Merrill Markoe

My goal was always getting my work out in the world, and in many ways, I feel like the luckiest person alive. — Merrill Markoe

Beware the man who doesn't ask you any questions about yourself on your first date. — Merrill Markoe

Since - in my belief system - we each get only one go-round here on planet Earth, it is the task of the writer to interpret, examine, and reflect on the specifics of their one and only life experience. — Merrill Markoe

My dogs, the only creatures on the planet marked by my singular nurturing imprint, have all turned out to be rude and self-absorbed. In all likelihood, if they were children instead of dogs, I would have foisted more Charlie Sheens or Kardashians onto our crumbling culture. — Merrill Markoe

I have learned that the stuff that causes me anxiety, the stuff I instinctively veer away from, is usually a road map to where my own creative growth can be found. So I consciously head toward the places that make me uncomfortable. — Merrill Markoe

Some people know that they are so adorable looking, all they have to do is smile and dress up and they get plenty from that. Then there are some of us who, early on, see that that doesn't work. So we joke about it. — Merrill Markoe

I am deeply grateful for the life I do have. In many ways, I am very fortunate. — Merrill Markoe

I gotta ask you ... why do you always circle before you lie down?" I said.
"As opposed to what?" Johnny Depp asked, astonished by the question. "You mean not circle? How would I tamp down the leaves and twigs and get comfortable?"
"What leaves and twigs?" I said. "This bed is twig-free."
"Hmm. I see your point," said Johnny Depp, pausing for a second before he resumed circling. "But did it occur to you maybe that's because I circle first? — Merrill Markoe

By the time the last of these relationships ended I was such a quaking mass of colliding, exploding neurotransmitter malfunctions that the only coherent sentence I could form in my native tongue went: Never again. — Merrill Markoe

Reality TV has managed to commodify everything we used to think of as the elements of normal life. — Merrill Markoe

The phrase "singular incredible life" seems to me that it applies more appropriately to Jane Goodall or David Attenborough, people I regard with awe and who stand for great humanism and knowledge. — Merrill Markoe

Beware the old man in young guy's clothes. If he's over 35 and comes to pick you up looking as though he's headed for a skateboarding competition while you are dressed to go to a nice restaurant, this is not a good sign. — Merrill Markoe

Our culture is definitely the eighth grade. It's run by eighth-grade boys, and the way these boys show a girl they like her is by humiliating her and making her cry. — Merrill Markoe

Conversely, beware the man who does nothing but ask you questions about yourself and offers no information about himself. Not only is he keeping you at bay, he is probably not listening to your answers. — Merrill Markoe

We are pretty sure that we and our pets share the same reality, until one day we come home to find that our wistful, intelligent friend who reminds us of our better self has decided a good way to spend the day is to open a box of Brillo pads, unravel a few, distribute some throughout the house, and eat or wear all the rest. And we shake our heads in an inability to comprehend what went wrong here. — Merrill Markoe

I think people figure out early in their lives what currency they can work in. — Merrill Markoe

Reality television is a scripted hyper-life that employs writers, but won't allow them to call themselves writers or join the union. — Merrill Markoe

I always hated those classic kid movies like Old Yeller or The Yearling where the beloved pet dies. What would be so wrong with having those damn kids learn their lessons about mortality from watching Grandpa kick? Then at least the dog would be around to comfort them. — Merrill Markoe

Someone's at the door! Someone's at the door!!!" they both yelled.
"I just told you, it's my - " I called, knowing they couldn't hear.
"Hey. Get away from the door, you miserable jack-off," I heard Chuck shout at my dad. "I'll rip your ass in half."
"Me too! I'll rip your ass in half, too!!" yelled Johnny Depp. "We hate you. We hate you. We hate you. We hate you."
"You guys, knock it off," I said, racing to open the door. "I just told you ... it's my - Hi, Daddy," I said, hugging him.
"Come on in! Great to see you again!!" screamed Chuck.
"Thank God you're finally here!" screamed Johnny Depp. "We missed you. Where you been? Welcome back! Who are you?? — Merrill Markoe

Once you get into it, it's all you can think about. Look, I know you don't trust my judgment because I eat cat shit. Someday I'll explain that to you. But right now do what I say. Just pick up the ball and throw it. — Merrill Markoe

When anyone lacks self-awareness and doesn't recognize their transparencies, it's always funny. — Merrill Markoe

I have a very hard time getting to rage. I always assume that maybe I've done something wrong and then forgotten about it. — Merrill Markoe

It's just like magic. When you live by yourself, all of your annoying habits are gone. — Merrill Markoe

That's just stupid," said Chuck. "Have a look around at the rest of the animal kingdom lately? I'll have sex with anyone who doesn't try to kill me."
"And even then, as long as their butt smells good, I'm in," said Johnny Depp. — Merrill Markoe