Carmack Quotes & Sayings

How much of my fever-induced dream was real? I felt safe assuming that my time as a bee was fiction, as well as a few mythological animals that I swear I'd seen. Then I'd lived on the sun with aliens. — Cora Carmack

But sex ... that was the opposite of control. There were emotions, and attraction, and that pesky other person that just had to be involved. Not my idea of fun. — Cora Carmack

Any kind of love where you have to prove yourself to be worthy is the wrong kind. — Cora Carmack

Times were changing in the world of id. They had finally fired Jason, narrowing the group to Carmack, Romero, Adrian, and Tom. But something else was in the air. The Reagan-Bush era was finally coming to a close and a new spirit rising. It began in Seattle, where a sloppily dressed grunge rock trio called Nirvana ousted Michael Jackson from the top of the pop charts with their album Nevermind. Soon grunge and hip-hop were dominating the world with more brutal and honest views. Id was braced to do for games what those artists had done for music: overthrow the status quo. Games until this point had been ruled by their own equivalent of pop, in the form of Mario and Pac-Man. Unlike music, the software industry had never experienced anything as rebellious as Wolfenstein 3-D. The — David Kushner

I read your letters. — Cora Carmack

There's this funny thing about empathy. It's not actually in limited supply. Just because other people have it worse doesn't mean you don't deserve to be understood. To feel comfort. — Cora Carmack

The best parts of life are the things we can't plan. And it's a lot harder to find happiness if you're only searching in one place. Sometimes, you just have to throw away the map. Admit that you don't know where you're going and stop pressuring yourself to figure it out. Besides ... a map is a life someone else already lived. It's more fun to make your own. — Cora Carmack

It would't be easy. Max was too hurt and her parents too upset for a cry session to fix everything, but it was the beginning, and that's all we can ask for in life - for a beginning to follow every end. — Cora Carmack

Me? Are you telling me what to do? — Cora Carmack

Say that this is real. That it counts. — Cora Carmack

I've been writing songs on little pieces of paper since I was a little kid, and it's just always been something I've done. — Chris Carmack

Oh, I burned it with my straightener."
"You burned your leg with your straightener? How long is your leg hair? — Cora Carmack

A career like mine as an actor has a lot of ups and downs. Sometimes you wonder if you're not wasting your time trying to carve out a space for yourself in this crazy entertainment industry. — Chris Carmack

He might not have a good head on his shoulders, but he has good shoulders, so that's close, right? — Cora Carmack

You want to hear it? Fine. It's a simple story really, about a pretty girl who was pretty stupid. She let a man touch her because she was scared to say no, and then she told her parents because she was scared to say nothing. Then they were scared to do anything that might ruin their pretty little lives, so they told the girl that it was nothing. That just being touched wasn't enough to fight for. Too scared to prove them wrong, she kept going like it was nothing, and she let more people touch her, never knowing that she was handing out pieces of herself. Or, hell, maybe she knew deep down, and she just hated herself so much that she was glad to be rid of them. And life wasn't pretty, but it also wasn't scary until she met a man with two names who touched her without taking and made her miss the pieces she had lost. And now things aren't just scary, they're fucking terrifying, and I can't do it. I can't live like this, knowing all that I've ruined and that it can't be fixed. — Cora Carmack

As readers, as people, we might not have the capacity to change the justice system. But as Dylan says in the book, we can change one person's perspective at a time. We can notice. We can speak up. We can teach this generation, my generation, that the way sexual assault is viewed and treated in this country is not okay, so that when it is our turn to step into the shoes of political office and criminal justice, we can continue changing the narrative from a place of power.
And more than anything, we can support. And we can empower. We can love.
We can be better. — Cora Carmack

Because of the nature of Moore's law, anything that an extremely clever graphics programmer can do at one point can be replicated by a merely competent programmer some number of years later. — John Carmack

The only thing we can do is try to find people whose scars compliment our own. — Cora Carmack

The kind of tired that sleep doesn't fix. Just tired of ... being. — Cora Carmack

Because try as I might, perfect doesn't guarantee me anything. I can't control whether other people will want me or love me or even like me. I can only control how I feel about myself. — Cora Carmack

Silas doesn't know how to be friends with girls. Either he'll break your heart or you'll break his. — Cora Carmack

Oh, princess. Don't be. You never have to be sorry with me. — Cora Carmack

Rocket science has been mythologized all out of proportion to its true difficulty. — John Carmack

It is not that uncommon for the cost of an abstraction to outweigh the benefit it delivers. Kill one today! — John Carmack

The truth was ... none of that kept people from leaving. Nothing could, if the person was determined to go. The only question was how long you were willing to chase them. — Cora Carmack

I am actively campaigning for 'chest hair' to become an Olympic sport. — Chris Carmack

I'm no expert in what country artists go through or how country audiences would react, but I'll say that the work I did to put myself in Will Lexington's shoes absolutely led me to believe that it would ruin his career. Meanwhile, I was getting lots of supportive messages saying, "Will Lexington should just come out! It's 2015 already, audiences are going to embrace it!" — Chris Carmack

It's a good thing Doom 3 is selling very well ... — John Carmack

Programming in the abstract sense is what I really enjoy. I enjoy lots of different areas of it ... I'm taking a great deal of enjoyment writing device drivers for Linux. I could also be having a good time writing a database manager or something because there are always interesting problems. — John Carmack

What cat? Oh! MY CAT. The cat ... that is mine. Oh, she's ... " I had said it was a she, right? "She's fine. All meowing and purring and other cat things. — Cora Carmack

I like taking things apart and putting them back together. Tinkering. I'd be a professional tinkerer. Tinkerbell. I think that's what they're called. — Chris Carmack

Trust me. This was much better than the alternative. I'm exactly where I want to be. He glanced down at me and gave me a half-smile. — Cora Carmack

You're not trying to pick up a girl?"
"I wasn't. — Cora Carmack

After what could have been an eternity or a few seconds, Cade whispered, Pain changes us. Mine made me want to be perfect, so that no one would ever want to leave me again. — Cora Carmack

I think everyone does. Even happy people. They may not admit it to anyone, but I think they feel it. I think they close their eyes, or go for a run, or take a long shower, so that hey can forget just for a second who they are and what they have to do day in and day out.
Living is hard.
And every day our feet get heavier and we pick up more baggage. So, we stop and take a breath, close our eyes, reset our minds. It's natural. As long as you open your eyes and keep going.
(Cade) — Cora Carmack

I think I break more than I fix." Her — Cora Carmack

Losing you is like losing me. — Cora Carmack

I don't want to go to the future. I'm scared of the future! — Chris Carmack

So he doesn't tick any of my usual boxes, but there's something in the way he looks at me. In his eyes, there's this strange kind of appreciation that is part attraction, part something else that makes me feel rare and precious and . . . seen. — Cora Carmack

He was flabbergasted. That was the best word. His flabber had been thoroughly gasted. — Cora Carmack

That's a big giant fuck if there ever was one. — Cora Carmack

Maybe they didn't choose locks because love is permanent. Maybe they chose locks because emotions bind us into place. They weigh us down. — Cora Carmack

Our oh-so-brief relationship had been like spending a day in the sunlight when you've lived your whole life underground (my former self being the mole man in this story). Maybe that was all we got when it came to relationships like that - flashes of sunlight. Maybe it was too bright to be sustained for any extended period of time. Maybe I should be thankful. — Cora Carmack

I was going to be so terrible at this ... the worst he'd ever had probably. And then he'd never want to see me again (and I really wanted to see him again). I'd probably be traumatized and never want to have sex again, which meant every relationship for the rest of my life would fail, and I would end up alone and miserable with nine cats and a ferret. — Cora Carmack

God, I've missed you. — Cora Carmack

I'm figuring out what I want by trial and error, and maybe that's not the best way, but it's all I've got. All I know is that I need to be my own person, someone shaped by my desire, not fear of disappointing the people who are supposed to love me. — Cora Carmack

If brains could have orgasms, I'm pretty sure this was what it would feel like. — Cora Carmack

Cant we own each other?
If brains could have orgasms, I'm pretty sure this is what it would feel like. — Cora Carmack

That I want to keep you. — Cora Carmack

I have a couple of nice guitars that I use, but I don't have anything that I collect. I collect a lot of dust in my apartment, if that counts for anything. — Chris Carmack

Getting angry at him won't change the fact that you're angry at yourself. — Cora Carmack

Good. I dare you to kiss- — Cora Carmack

We all just live in this giant cycle where we screw things up and hurt people we love, and then we turn around and try to atone for that by fixing other things. And maybe we're all just waiting on our turn for a broken heart and the person who will fix it. — Cora Carmack

How the hell do I go from walking away to this? — Cora Carmack

I'm glad you fought for me," she said.
"I'm glad you let me. — Cora Carmack

The speed of light sucks. — John Carmack

But fear lets us know we're alive. It tells me that you care about what happens between us because the mind doesn't waste time being scared about things that don't matter. — Cora Carmack

And I am here with you. If you have questions, ask them. If you have fears, shed them. If you have doubts, give them to me and I will crush them beneath my heel. If you need help, I will provide it. Even if you only need someone to yell at, I can be that too. And when the time comes that you need someone to trust, I will be that person. I promise. — Cora Carmack

I don't show much of anything. — Cora Carmack

I was making the decision ... every time, every single time, I would choose our future over my future. — Cora Carmack

I'm frustrated. I just don't know what you want from me. — Cora Carmack

Music wasn't complicated. It was math. — Cora Carmack

You told me to be myself, so I am. — Cora Carmack

Are you waiting for an invitation?" I asked, eyeing him standing carefully outside my door. "Is this the part where you tell me you're a vampire?" He chuckled. "No, I promise the paleness is only because I'm British. — Cora Carmack

Everything in the world might be connected, but that doesn't mean the way we feel about them has to be. — Cora Carmack

Every day. I will prove every day how much you mean to me. How real this is. — Cora Carmack

Programming is not a zero-sum game. Teaching something to a fellow programmer doesn't take it away from you. I'm happy to share what I can, because I'm in it for the love of programming. — John Carmack

It's a funny thing to miss people before you've even left them, but that's what I was feeling now. — Cora Carmack

It's nice to have a game that sells a million copies. — John Carmack

It was like my uterus was tapping out a happy dance on the rest of my organs. God, I was dying the longest, most tortuous, and arousing death in the history of the world. — Cora Carmack

Carson McClain, you scare me like nothing has ever scared me before. You drive me crazy and make me laugh and push my buttons on purpose. You make me feel safe and smart and pretty. Sometimes I think I might actually melt when you wrap your arms around me, and right now I feel a little bit like I might die if you don't kiss me. — Cora Carmack

Honey, right now you look like someone's adorable little sister. No guy wants to screw his little sister. And if he does, you don't want to be near him. — Cora Carmack

Cade Winston, by drinking this shot, you hereby swear to do something out of character tonight. Should you fail, you'll be cused to a lifetime filled with premature ejaculation.'
'Seriously, man?'
He held up his hands and laughed, 'Hey, the alcohol gods giveth and they taketh away. — Cora Carmack

We want what we can't have. It's human nature. — Cora Carmack

One of the big lessons of a big project is you don't want people that aren't really programmers programming, you'll suffer for it! — John Carmack

I stared at them while my control unraveled. I wanted to throw them in the trash. I wanted to return them. I wanted to keep them. I was a mess of wants, none of which mattered, because she didn't want me. — Cora Carmack

Because sometimes in life, you just have to stand there and do nothing. Overwhelmed by all the versions of ourselves that exist in our minds - who we want to be, who we should be, who we're not, and who we are - it's a jungle that can ensnare your feet and confuse your eyes. But sometimes if you stand still, all those things will snap back into place like a rubber band. And if you can get past the sting, you can keep moving, not quite whole, but held together for the moment. — Cora Carmack

Life wasn't pretty, but it also wasn't scary until she met a man who touched her without taking and made her miss the pieces she had lost. — Cora Carmack

There is a better world Well, there must be . . . — Cora Carmack

Something that small shouldn't be so powerful, but I swear there's this pull between us, and every time I touch her, every time I even look at her, it gets stronger. Like she's an ocean tide, and I'm caught up in her current. And there's no point in fighting my way to the surface because I don't know which way is up or down. I don't know anything except that I want her. — Cora Carmack

Adventures don't happen when you're worried about the future or tied down by the past. They only exist in the now. And they always,always come at the most unexpected time,in the least likely of packages. An adventure is an open window; and an adventurer is the person willing to crawl out on the ledge and leap. — Cora Carmack

We spend so much time defending our choice to do this that it becomes hard to show any vulnerability at all. There's only so many times you can handle someone asking about your fall back for when things don't work before you start thinking that maybe the fall back should just be your plan. — Cora Carmack

The Escalation programmers come from a completely different background, and the codebase is all STL this, boost that, fill-up-the-property list, dispatch the event, and delegate that. I had been harboring some suspicions that our big codebases might benefit from the application of some more of the various "modern" C++ design patterns, despite seeing other large game codebases suffer under them. I have since recanted that suspicion. — John Carmack

In the information age, the barriers [to entry into programming] just aren't there. The barriers are self imposed. If you want to set off and go develop some grand new thing, you don't need millions of dollars of capitalization. You need enough pizza and Diet Coke to stick in your refrigerator, a cheap PC to work on, and the dedication to go through with it. We slept on floors. We waded across rivers. — John Carmack

An interesting question: is it easier to motivate a learned individual that never does anything, or educate an ignorant individual that actually produces things? — John Carmack

Honestly, I spend very little time thinking about past events, and I certainly don't have them ranked in any way. I look back and think that I have done a lot of good work over the years, but I am much more excited about what the future holds. — John Carmack

What? Just because I can't have you right now, doesn't mean I'm okay with him having you. — Cora Carmack

We do not see the PC as the leading platform for games. That statement will enrage some people, but it is hard to characterize it otherwise; both console versions will have larger audiences than the PC version. — John Carmack

It's such a stupid thing. I've had my arm around more girls that I could possibly remember, but in this moment with this girl, who is so far above me I might as well be trying to scoop up the stars, it feels a little bit like a hard-earned first down. — Cora Carmack

Low-level programming is good for the programmer's soul. — John Carmack

I read this book once where the girl yelled 'cat' right before they were about to get some bow-chicka-bow-wow,' I told him. 'It was high-larious. — J. Lynn

Go Red. Fight Red. Bleed Red. — Cora Carmack

I want to say we're okay, Bliss. I need you, too. But I can't pretend I wasn't hoping this would go somewhere. I don't know if I can do it. The truth is ... you are hurting me. Not on purpose, I know that. But I love you and every second that you don't love me back ... it hurts. — Cora Carmack

I really think, if anything, there is more evidence to show that the violent games reduce aggression and violence. There have actually been some studies about that, that it's cathartic. If you go to QuakeCon and you walk by and you see the people there [and compare that to] a random cross section of a college campus, you're probably going to find a more peaceful crowd of people at the gaming convention. I think it's at worst neutral and potentially positive. — John Carmack

There's a fine line between broody and potential sociopath. Right now you're walking the line. — Cora Carmack

Do me a favor? Be a gentleman tomorrow? — Cora Carmack

And all the restless energy floating through me keeps connecting to him and coming back twice as strong, like we're this closed circuit, and the longer we stay linked, the more powerful the pull between us becomes. — Cora Carmack

Sex.
I was going to have sex.
With a boy.
A hot boy.
A hot BRITISH boy.
Or maybe I was going to throw up.
What if I threw up on the hot British boy?
What if I threw up on the hot British boy DURING SEX? — Cora Carmack

Each one you take is a commitment. If you break that commitment, the gods of alcohol will punish you with a hangover so bad you'll think Satan himself took a dump on you. -Milo — Cora Carmack

People really do identify with the characters they see on the show, but these days, social media allows you to interact with fans in a really interesting way. On my Twitter account, I'm Chris Carmack, not Will Lexington. I interact with fans and joke with them. I'll post pictures from my life. I think that helps drop the curtain of a character. — Chris Carmack