Douglas Coupland - Quodid

About

Picture of Douglas Coupland

Douglas Coupland (born 30 December 1961) is a Canadian visual artist and writer. Trained originally as a sculptor, Coupland found unexpected success as a novelist with the publication of his 1991 international bestseller Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, which popularized the terms Generation X and McJob. He has since gone on to publish dozens of books, including novels, short story collections, and essay collections. He has also worked as a columnist and contributor for a number of periodicals, including the New York Times, the Financial Times, The Guardian, and Wired Magazine.

Quotes from Douglas Coupland

Here's my theory about meetings and life; the three things you can't fake are erections, competence and creativity. That's why meetings become toxic they put uncreative people in a situation in which they have to be something they can never be. And the more effort they put into concealing their inabilities, the more toxic the meeting becomes. One of the most common creativity-faking tactics is when someone puts their hands in prayer position and conceals their mouth while they nod at you and say, 'Mmmmmm. Interesting.' If pressed, they'll add, 'I'll have to get back to you on that.' Then they don't say anything else.

—Douglas Coupland

Life is boring. People are vengeful. Good things always end. We do so many things and we don't know why, and if we do find out why, it's decades later and knowing why doesn't matter any more.

—Douglas Coupland in All Families are Psychotic

time change boredom vengeance

If human beings had genuine courage, they'd wear their costumes every day of the year, not just on Halloween.

—Douglas Coupland

courage Halloween costumes

And then I felt sad because I realized that once people are broken in certain ways, they can't ever be fixed, and this is something nobody ever tells you when you are young and it never fails to surprise you as you grow older as you see the people in your life break one by one. You wonder when your turn is going to be, or if it's already happened.

—Douglas Coupland in Life After God

failure youth sadness

Nobody has ever been happy in a job they obtained by first handing in a resumé.

—Douglas Coupland

happiness jobs resumé

Books

Douglas Coupland has the following books quoted on Quodid: