“Dark intelligent comedic thriller” is how to properly describe the literature of Chuck Palahniuk, though he likes to use the term “transgressional fiction.” He truly is a master novelist, and one that has influenced an entire generation by opening peoples minds. Outside of the box thinking coupled with a borderline sadistic sense of humor are what make his novels the masterpieces they are. The most notable and renown of which has to be his 1996 best seller “Fight Club.” Delivering a contradictory sense of inspirational nihilism, and intelligent dark humor, “Fight Club” was made world famous only 3 years after it’s publication in 1999 with the film adaptation starring Edward Norton, and Brad Pitt.
A sizable portion of the dialogue from the novel wasn’t transferred to script, which doesn’t ruin the movie, but it does nullify the true affect of the main character. Tyler Durden is a masterpiece all on his own; sporting the roles of both protagonist, and antagonist, he is a legendary work of art gifted to the world through the mind and hands of Chuck Palahniuk. The way Tyler sees himself and the world; sociologically, psychologically is (for lack of a better word) highly intriguing!
Tyler Durden Quotes
The quotes I’ve compiled are from both the novel, and the movie adaptation. They do include some quotes from the narrator, because (spoiler alert if you aren’t familiar with the story) Tyler turns out to be the narrator as well. Enjoy!
1) “Gentlemen, welcome to Fight Club. The first rule of Fight Club is you do not talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT FIGHT CLUB! Third rule of Fight Club; Someone yells ‘Stop!’, goes limp, taps out, the fight is over. Fourth rule; Only two guys to a fight. Fifth rule; One fight at a time, fellas. Sixth rule; No shirts, no shoes. Seventh rule; Fights will go on as long as they have to. And the eighth and final rule; If this is your first night at Fight Club, you have to fight.”
2) “Our fathers were our models for God. If our fathers bailed, what does that tell you about God?””The three ways to make napalm.. 1. you can mix equal parts of gasoline and frozen orange juice concentrate. 2. you can mix equal parts of gasoline and diet cola. 3. you can dissolve crumbled cat litter in gasoline until the mixture is thick.””On a long enough time line, the survival rate for everyone will drop to zero.”
3) “This is your life, and it’s ending one minute at a time.”
4) “I want you to hit me as hard as you can.”
5) “Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken.”
6) “Only after disaster can we be resurrected. It’s only after you’ve lost everything that you’re free to do anything. Nothing is static, everything is evolving, everything is falling apart.”
7) “I’m breaking my attachment to physical power and possessions, because only through destroying myself can I discover the greater power of my spirit.”
8) “The liberator who destroyed my property is fighting to save my spirit. The teacher who clears all possessions from my path will set me free.”
9) “First you have to know; NOT FEAR, know.. That someday you will die.”
10) “When you have insomnia, you’re never really asleep, and you’re never really awake. With insomnia, nothing’s real. Everything is far away. Everything is a copy of a copy of a copy.”
11) “You are not special. You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake. You are the same decaying organic matter as everything else.”
12) “The things you own end up owning you.”
13) “F*ck Martha Stewart. Martha’s polishing the brass on the Titanic. It’s all going down, man. F*ck off with your sofa units and sturine green stripe patterns! I say never be complete, I say stop being perfect, I say lets evolve, let the chips fall where they may.”
14) “It’s only after we’ve lost everything that we’re free to do anything.”
15) “You are not your job. You’re not how much money you have in the bank. You’re not the car you drive. You’re not the contents of your wallet. You’re not your f*cking khakis. You’re the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world.”
16) “You wanna make an omelet, you gotta break some eggs”
17) “We’re consumers. We are the byproducts of a lifestyle obsession. Murder, crime, poverty, these things don’t concern me. What concerns me are celebrity magazines, television with 500 channels, some guy’s name on my underwear. Rogaine, Viagra, Olestra.”
18) “Mom and Dad are going to have to call up kindly Doctor so and so; pick up your dental records. Wanna know why? Because there’s gonna be nothing left of your face.”
19) “How much can you know about yourself, if you’ve never been in a fight? I don’t wanna die without any scars.”
20) “Hi, you’re gonna call off your rigorous investigation. You’re gonna publicly state that there is no underground group, or, these guys are gonna take your balls. They’re gonna send one to the New York Times, one to the LA Times, press release style. Look, the people you are after are the people you depend on: we cook your meals, we haul your trash, we connect your calls, we drive your ambulances, we guard you while you sleep. Do not f*ck with us.”
21) “Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy sh*t we don’t need.”
22) “In the world I see you are stalking elk through the damp canyon forests around the ruins of Rock feller Center. You’ll wear leather clothes that will last you the rest of your life. You’ll climb the wrist-thick kudzu vines that wrap the Sears Towers. And when you look down, you’ll see tiny figures pounding corn, laying stripes of venison on the empty car pool lane of some abandoned superhighway.”
23) “Picture yourself planting radishes and seed potatoes on the fifteenth green of a forgotten golf course. You’ll hunt elk through the damp canyon forests around the ruins of Rockefeller Center, and dig clams next to the skeleton of the Space Needle leaning at a forty-five degree angle. We’ll paint the skyscrapers with huge totem faces and goblin tikis, and every evening what’s left of mankind will retreat to empty zoos and lock itself in cages as protection against the bears and big cats and wolves that pace and watch us from outside the cage bars at night.”
24) “We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War’s a spiritual war. Our Great Depression is our lives. We’ve all been raised on television to believe that one day we’d all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won’t. And we’re slowly learning that fact. And we’re very, very p*ssed off.”
25) “I am Jack’s raging bile duct.”
Related: Craziest American Psycho Quotes
Video of Tyler Durden’s Philosophy of Life
Here’s a great short clip of Tyler’s philosophy. It will probably inspire you to watch the movie soon.
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Reminder to Think about Tyler Durden This Week
As you can see, Chuck Palahniuk certainly has given the world a character that’s a once in a lifetime and so rare and memorable, even for a master Novelist such as himself. Though the narrator is intelligent and witty, we have to know that he is the victim of the story, and the causation for his own victimization. The battle that he fights from the beginning to the end may be a work of fiction, but it has very real lessons for all of us to remember.
Tyler shows us that it’s best to accept embrace all of yourself, in every circumstance. Otherwise the parts you try to suppress or otherwise hide from the world will end up rampant. Be true to who you are, and balance will find you.
Tyler had a library of useful knowledge, and it all leads back to this: minimalism will be spiritually productive, allowing for less attachment, and less suffering ultimately. Whereas overabundance creates stresses, attachments, and ultimately worsens the inevitable suffering of the person indulging, and everyone around them. The media, celebrities, brand names and popular culture are the things that essential control most people in a society like ours. and these are the reasons we feel inadequate. Avoid the trap they set, and you’ll be as free as a space monkey.
Also see: Craziest Charles Manson Quotes
Image Credit: Wicker Paradise from New Rochelle, United States / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)
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I’m Alice Judy and AnQuotes is a fun hobby for me. We know that everyone loves a great quote and our mission here is simple – to be the best and most interesting quote site in the world! If you have quotes you would like us to cover, please contact us.