Home > Author > Viv Albertine

Viv Albertine QUOTES

Viv Albertine QUOTES

101 " It’s not so terrible a feeling, aloneness, or it’s so terrible it’s mind-blowing. I’ve never felt so present as I do now, every second on the brink of life and death. No sense of space or scale. I picture myself as a tiny person teetering on the rim of a glass of milk. (I don’t know why milk, I don’t like milk – a drink from childhood, perhaps, when I felt powerless.) I could go either way: lose my footing, fall in and drown, or recover my balance and survive. "

― Viv Albertine , To Throw Away Unopened

102 " For those in a hurry … Sex references: here, here, here, here, here, here Drugs references: here, here, here, here Punk rock references: here, here, here, here, here "

― Viv Albertine , Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys

103 " We dressed outrageously, behaved aggressively, and fought every obstacle that came our way with a zeal that would have been impossible at that time in history if we’d had fathers. "

― Viv Albertine , To Throw Away Unopened

104 " He’s soaking wet from dancing, all sweaty under his arms. As I lift the hair off the nape of my neck for him to fasten the necklaces, he closes in. Well, this is it, make or break, if I don’t like his smell, this is going nowhere. He smells of good honest sweat, no poncy deodorant for him. He’s a vegetarian so it’s not a meaty, kebabby smell, not overpowering, but strong enough to let me know, here is a man. I like it. "

― Viv Albertine , Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys

105 " I thought John was funny, clever and wise. The only problem with him being my muse was that he was so open about his emotions--he wrote and talked about his mother, Yoko, even his aunt, all the time, acknowledging how important women were in his life--so I assumed all boys were like this--and to my huge disappointment, almost none of them were or are. "

― Viv Albertine

106 " ...motherhood is a huge shift in freedom and status. No one ever says, 'You're good at this, well done.' No one pays you. If you fuck up and drop the baby, then you'll get some attention, but if you keep your head down and do a 'good enough' job, you're ignored. "

― Viv Albertine

107 " There I went again, building up a glamorous picture of a man who would love me passionately the minute he met me, and all out of a few prosy nothings. Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar "

― Viv Albertine , Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys

108 " I think of it as saying Yes to Nothing. If your choice is either the wrong thing or nothing, however frightened you are, you’ve got to take nothing. Haven’t you? Hasn’t everyone? No husband, no lover, no band, no money, no confidence. Here goes nothing. "

― Viv Albertine , Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys

109 " The two most important men in my life want me to deny who I am. As if it’s shameful. "

― Viv Albertine , Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys

110 " Perhaps ‘defective’ is a middle-aged person’s default setting. Like the life cycle of a pear we go unripe, unripe, ripe, off. "

― Viv Albertine , To Throw Away Unopened

111 " I’ve noticed a pattern forming in my life, it happens every time something doesn’t work out – a friendship, the New Slits, my marriage – if I have the courage to walk away from it rather than stay and cling on for fear of the unknown future, it seems to take from four to six months at the very most for something even better to manifest in front of me. I think of it as saying Yes to Nothing. If your choice is either the wrong thing or nothing, however frightened you are, you’ve got to take nothing. Haven’t you? Hasn’t everyone? "

― Viv Albertine , Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys

112 " Worse than being stuck with someone ill or being alone forever is the thought that I’ll grow to love a person very much and won’t have them for very long. Finding another person to love is finding another person to lose. "

― Viv Albertine , To Throw Away Unopened

113 " Sometimes my bladder is the only reason I get up. Not even hunger can shift me – the only time I can stand to be hungry is when I'm in bed. I've discovered that if I lie still and count to about ninety, the hunger pangs go away. They're like heartbreak: you just have to acknowledge the pain and wait until it passes. "

― Viv Albertine , To Throw Away Unopened

114 " hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your head’ – Sally Kempton.) "

― Viv Albertine , Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys

115 " We’re all very judgemental about everything, including each other, but if you state your position boldly enough, or just don’t give a shit, you can do what the hell you want. "

― Viv Albertine , Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys

116 " For sixty years I’ve been shaped by men’s point of view on every aspect of my life, from history, politics, music and art to my mind and my body – and centuries more male-centric history before that. I’m saturated with their opinions. I can think and see like a straight white man. I can look at a woman and objectify her, see her how a man sees her. I can think like a male criminal. To stay safe, you have to anticipate their thoughts and actions. I can think like a rapist for fuck’s sake. "

― Viv Albertine , To Throw Away Unopened

117 " What can he possibly want? He mentioned in an email seeing me play in New York when he was eighteen, and being quite smitten. Maybe he has a terminal disease and is rounding up all the girls he’s ever wanted to kiss before he dies. "

― Viv Albertine , Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys

118 " I’m daunted by the essay writing but get a great piece of advice from Laura Mulvey: ‘Think what you want to say and then say it as clearly as possible.’ I work hard, I never miss a lecture. I try and overachieve, like all mature students. People given a second chance know the value of their reprieve. "

― Viv Albertine , Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys

119 " I work hard, I never miss a lecture. I try and overachieve, like all mature students. People given a second chance know the value of their reprieve. "

― Viv Albertine , Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys

120 " I’ve never regretted the loss of any man – or cat – I’ve known. I have regretted losing women though. Every woman, good or bad, who’s gone from my life has left a hole. "

― Viv Albertine , To Throw Away Unopened