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My aunt, on being Italian: “We live with passion. We go down in flames.”

Anonymous lost (then found) letter to ex-lover: “I feel like there’s some sort of virus plagueing (sic) my system. Like you’ve lit me on fire. I’m on fire. I’m on fire I am burning alive. My brain’s cooked. I make no sense.”

B, on mankind: “Fire is the greatest human invention. Period. End of story. Think of all the things that would be impossible without it, think of everything it inspired. Think of all that it spawned!”

M, on mankind: “That’s horrifying logic. I won’t even get into it, but first of all we didn’t invent fire. We didn’t build it. It’s something we stumbled upon and had to learn how to control without basically burning the entire world down. We still struggle to not burn the world down. I’m astounded, absolutely astounded, that nobody has said anything about recent tech.”

My mom, on lawlessness: “I don’t know- like those people who burn the wives alive for cheating on their husbands, they haven’t moved at all since the Salem witch trials. It’s- it’s barbaric is what it is. Uncontrolled.”

My brother, on dying: “I’d definitely rather burn alive than drown. Are you kidding me? Fuck that.”

My brother, on dying: “Yeah I didn’t think about that. That’s a good point. I guess burning alive is the worst kind of pain. Prolonged agony. Yeah. Nevermind.”

S, on living: “There’s just that whole thing about like, would you rather live at a stable baseline or ride the roller coaster of emotions? Because, I mean in my mind, that lukewarm shit just isn’t enough. I can’t settle for that. I won’t settle for that. Once you’ve tasted fire, like what did Robert Frost say? Why the fuck would you drop back down to just being content? No thank you.”

S no. 2, on living: “Have you seen those people that are stuck in the back and forth? They’re miserable. Absolutely miserable. I wouldn’t take my chances. I mean yeah I’m sure the sex is great. But you’re gonna get burned. You’re gonna get burned every time. And if we’re speaking abstractly, and I guess we already are, you’re gonna sustain scars. The next thing you know, if that’s how you want to live your life, you’re just so covered in em that you feel next to nothing anymore. The body shuts down. The mind shuts down. I’ll take the average sex and the 2.5 kids.”

S, on living: “Of course he’d say that. I’m not surprised. First of all, if you’re lucky enough to get that kind of passion, you’d be a fool to let it go. That’s the whole point of life. That’s what makes it worth it. If you want to just stick to satisfying reproduction and companionship you might as well unevolve back to ape status. Second of all, I know quite a few people that have overcome the burn phase. Like, okay fine, to continue speaking metaphorically- you learn how it works enough to not let it burn you. You learn how to ride the ups without letting the downs consume you. I know this can happen. I’ve seen it happen. But that’s not even the point because I’d take it regardless. Don’t be pathetic. Be human. And not in that way.”

S no. 2, on living: “Fever dreaming. That’s what I call it. People like her are fever dreaming.”