Not sure if all or any of these come from Fight Club. It’s been a decade since we read Chuck Palahniuk’s wildly imaginative novel. However, each of these quotes came from the man himself throughout a long and stellar career that includes the novel Fight Club as well as follow-ups Choke and Snuff. All of Palahniuk’s characters are quirky, desperate people looking for ways to greater enlightenment. Naturally, the man writes people so well, he has some great things to say about relationships.

❤ ❤ 1. “Find joy in everything you choose to do. Every job, relationship, home ... it’s your responsibility to love it, or change it.” ❤ ❤

Could not agree with this more. After more than a decade of slogging through “regular” jobs, it wasn’t until starting my own business that I realized how I was my biggest enemy for a number of years by simply thinking the possible was impossible.

Photo credit: Wikipedia.org

❤ ❤ 2. “If you don’t know what you want, you end up with a lot you don’t.” ❤ ❤

Uncertainty is just another form of discontent. If you’re not sure what you want in another person, you’ll inevitably cycle through a string of bad relationships that waste your time and the other person’s. It’s better to be single than to commit to a relationship that’s going nowhere.

❤ ❤ 3. “The only way to find true happiness is to risk being completely cut open.” ❤ ❤

Everything in life requires some type of gamble. As you’ll see from many of Chuck Palahniuk’s characters, the inability to take risks often results in closed-off, depressed characters with a desperate need to feel coexisting with an inability to do so. Vulnerability is the way out. You risk getting hurt, but you’re also able to soar far beyond what you ever thought possible.

❤ ❤ 4. “Every woman is just a different kind of problem.” ❤ ❤

Sorry, ladies, but it’s true. You’re complex, complicated, beautiful creatures with a set of needs that the opposite sex struggles to fully understand. Of course, it doesn’t help that we can be shallow, self-involved, and fairly dumb. Our need to be “fixers” often results in us trying to take on your problems, even when we’re not that qualified or capable of helping. Sometimes we just need to shut-up and listen.

❤ ❤ 5. “I think in a way, you’re doomed, once you can envision something. You’re sort of doomed to make it happen. I’ve found that the moment I can envision leaving a relationship, that’s usually the moment that the relationship starts to fall apart.” ❤ ❤

This entry on our quotes list rings true because once something enters your mind, it’s generally there for a reason. And with something as life-altering as the end of a relationship, forget about it. The image of walking out the door just starts to consume your every thought, coloring your interactions with the other person until the relationship has nowhere else to fall, but to pieces.

❤ ❤ 6. “It’s funny how you never think about the women you’ve had. It’s always the ones who get away that you can’t forget.” ❤ ❤

Men and women can probably relate to this one. It’s just really hard not to ask that ever-troublesome question, “What if?” rather than focusing on the positives and on what is working in your current relationship. You always wonder if you would have been happier with this-or-that, but the truth is the present is always exactly where you need to be.

What are some of your favorite Chuck Palahniuk thoughts on relationships. Looking at the list of quotes we’ve provided, which ones do you find ring the most true [if any], and why?

… written by Aric Mitchell is a full time freelance writer and a contributor to Quoto.com, where thousands of famous quotes exist. You can find out more about him on Google+.