When I was at Brown. In other words, I'd heard about [H.P. Lovecraft], but I didn't pay that much attention till I… — Paul Laffoley Attention Copy Share Image
Forms of energy from nature gave my father trouble. He refused to believe he was going to die. He had these weird… — Paul Laffoley Copy Share Image
Anyway, my father became super-responsible. You know, he was the kind of person that absorbs all responsibility in the family, and then… — Paul Laffoley Children Copy Share Image
I think [H.P. Lovecraft] recognized what he was dealing with, he was dealing with demons. And he was dealing with creatures that're… — Paul Laffoley Copy Share Image
In other words, [ H.P. Lovecraft] was areligious, asexual, neurasthenic, he just didn't want to react to the world. Like Virginia Woolf,… — Paul Laffoley Asexual Copy Share Image
You know, Mick Jagger's "Sympathy for the Devil." I think it was inspired by that [H.P.Lovecraft stories]. You don't know who's reading… — Paul Laffoley Culture Copy Share Image
I like Colin Wilson, mainly because he never went to school. When you don't go to school you can say anything you… — Paul Laffoley Copy Share Image
I think [H. P. Lovecraft] knew the whole gamut. He just didn't believe any of it! He probably liked to use the… — Paul Laffoley Copy Share Image
I would say [to my father], "Why don't you actually take some courses in physics instead of saying [you are not believing… — Paul Laffoley Copy Share Image
Around the corner [ of the Carnegie Delicatessen] is the Russian Tea Room, which is now out of business. Which is awful.… — Paul Laffoley Copy Share Image
I actually challenged The Theosophical Society on their concept of planes of reality. I said, "What you're doing is, you're stacking two-dimensional… — Paul Laffoley Copy Share Image
I hear some guy teaches a course in diagrammatic thinking now; he's written books on it and stuff like that, and so… — Paul Laffoley Book Copy Share Image
[My father] was always upset that my mother didn't want to live in New York. Because he said he wanted to live… — Paul Laffoley Bankers Copy Share Image
Both [Nikola] Tesla and [Leon] Theremin were preternaturally young. I mean, for a long time Tesla was a young man well into… — Paul Laffoley Copy Share Image
For years [H.P] Lovecraft was defined as an atheist. Well, he wasn't saying anything about what he really was at all. He… — Paul Laffoley Agnostic Copy Share Image
To have that radical a mind in that bourgeois-looking body was really hard for a lot of people to take, because, when… — Paul Laffoley Body Copy Share Image
I mean, these are really dedicated people [in Lovecraft Society] when it comes to [h.P.] Lovecraft. But in the top floor of… — Paul Laffoley Archives Copy Share Image
I began to research the concept of dimensionality from the point of view of quality, and not just quantity, as a mathematician… — Paul Laffoley Copy Share Image
I would have private conversations with [Buckminster Fuller]. I once had an argument, for four hours, about the existence of the Mobius… — Paul Laffoley Copy Share Image
I was sent to the regular public schools until I had to go to Belmont Hill. Because I wasn't doing anything. The… — Paul Laffoley Education Copy Share Image
[Buckminster Fuller] was quite a Newtonian in certain ways. But he was an excellent inventor and kept people on their toes. — Paul Laffoley Buckminster fuller Copy Share Image
[Buckminster Fuller] always liked to say that he got kicked out of Harvard three times. Mostly you only got kicked out once,… — Paul Laffoley Buckminster fuller Copy Share Image
I always had a sense of liking diagrams, from the time I was studying architecture. Architecture is built diagrams, basically. — Paul Laffoley Architecture Copy Share Image
I started modeling myself on [ Buckminster Fuller], like with the hair. I reached an age where I sort of, kind of,… — Paul Laffoley Age Copy Share Image
The tetrahedron was [ Buckminster Fuller's] big thing. He'd talk about it in the same way Plato talked about angles. — Paul Laffoley Copy Share Image
[Buckminster Fuller] could do four, five hours straight where some people would leave, eat, get a snooze and come back and he's… — Paul Laffoley Buckminster fuller Copy Share Image
It's called "Pickman's Mephitic Models," based on the story [Pickman's Model by H. P. Lovecraft].Certain things about it many people don't realize.… — Paul Laffoley Copy Share Image
[My father] had this quirky thing of not believing in gravity. And giving me a constant headache about that one. He would… — Paul Laffoley Copy Share Image
[H.P.Lovecraft] is thrust into some kind of outer space realm, like here [pointing toward the painting in progress]. In other words, he's… — Paul Laffoley Anti christ Copy Share Image
In other words, you've got a journey as the plot, but it has to be in a lively environment, being able to… — Paul Laffoley Copy Share Image
[My father] was a banker. He was the president of the Cambridge Trust Company, the head of the trust department, and he… — Paul Laffoley Banker Copy Share Image
When I was in New York working for [Frederick] Kiesler, at night I listened to Jean Shephard who lasted from 1957 until… — Paul Laffoley Copy Share Image
At one time in the mid-'70s I became the president of the Boston-Cambridge chapter of the World Future Society. Because I'd been… — Paul Laffoley Boston Copy Share Image
I started with "Pickman's Model," because it was about Boston. I mean, what I loved about [H. P. Lovecraft], at first is… — Paul Laffoley Copy Share Image
Now, we know this is what [H.P.] Lovecraft was into. Because he kept talking about how he wasn't interested in religion. In… — Paul Laffoley Heaven Copy Share Image
At 15 [my father] revolted against his father like any teenager, and said, "I'm out of here! What are you doing to… — Paul Laffoley Copy Share Image
As a kid, I was getting information in areas that no one else was getting. I think that was one of the… — Paul Laffoley Copy Share Image
We would go on retreats to Florence. The people in the planning team got to be good friends and so we did… — Paul Laffoley Age Copy Share Image
When [my father] reached his majority, he was the head of the family. Everybody depended upon him. He went into a very… — Paul Laffoley Copy Share Image
[Buckminster Fuller ] never got past his freshman year [in Harvard], because the guy was an insane womanizer and he did parties… — Paul Laffoley Copy Share Image
![“When I was at Brown. In other words, I'd heard about [H.P. Lovecraft], but I didn't pay that much attention till I happened to go to a meeting about it. And then I got just totally turned on.” quote by Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b87/paul-laffoley-7077_attention_when-i-was-at-brown-in-other-words-i-d-h_1277057.jpg)
![“I think [H.P. Lovecraft] recognized what he was dealing with, he was dealing with demons. And he was dealing with creatures that're suffering. There's no way out of this suffering.” quote by Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30b/paul-laffoley-7077_creatures_i-think-h-p-lovecraft-recognized-what-he_1239860.jpg)
![“In other words, [ H.P. Lovecraft] was areligious, asexual, neurasthenic, he just didn't want to react to the world. Like Virginia Woolf, who considered religion the ultimate obscenity.” quote by Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a34/paul-laffoley-7077_asexual_in-other-words-h-p-lovecraft-was-areligi_2293724.jpg)
![“You know, Mick Jagger's "Sympathy for the Devil." I think it was inspired by that [H.P.Lovecraft stories]. You don't know who's reading what, you know. It just comes out once in a while in the pop culture.” quote by Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b25/paul-laffoley-7077_culture_you-know-mick-jagger-s-sympathy-for-the_104239.jpg)
![“I think [H. P. Lovecraft] knew the whole gamut. He just didn't believe any of it! He probably liked to use the esoteric stuff because he knew it would tick people off and freak them out.” quote by Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1b/paul-laffoley-7077_believe_i-think-h-p-lovecraft-knew-the-whole-gam_2392914.jpg)
![“I would say [to my father], "Why don't you actually take some courses in physics instead of saying [you are not believing in gravity]?" But he would never do it. Businessmen for some reason or other, think, because they're successful in a single direction, that they know everything. You know what…” quote by Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e7b/paul-laffoley-7077_believe_i-would-say-to-my-father-why-don-t-you-a_374065.jpg)
![“Around the corner [ of the Carnegie Delicatessen] is the Russian Tea Room, which is now out of business. Which is awful. I remember going in there and seeing the ballerinas trotting in there like they were prize horses, with their hair, their sunglasses. Really amazing. They were all White…” quote by Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d1b/paul-laffoley-7077_around-the-corner_around-the-corner-of-the-carnegie-delica_1949100.jpg)
![“[My father] was always upset that my mother didn't want to live in New York. Because he said he wanted to live in a hotel and not have to mow the lawn and all that. In other words, he never liked sports clothes, he always liked to be dressed up formally, 24/7. And he drove big cars and, you know…” quote by Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f2/paul-laffoley-7077_bankers_my-father-was-always-upset-that-my-mothe_2747791.jpg)
![“Both [Nikola] Tesla and [Leon] Theremin were preternaturally young. I mean, for a long time Tesla was a young man well into his 70s. And so was Theremin, even though, at the end, he looked pretty old. But he was still doing things that young guys do, beyond the time you'd normally think people…” quote by Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/572/paul-laffoley-7077_doing-things_both-nikola-tesla-and-leon-theremin-were_3070914.jpg)
![“For years [H.P] Lovecraft was defined as an atheist. Well, he wasn't saying anything about what he really was at all. He wasn't even an agnostic. That's exactly what the situation is, in other words, when you enter an eternal realm. You've got to know there is no religion.” quote by Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b81/paul-laffoley-7077_agnostic_for-years-h-p-lovecraft-was-defined-as-a_2876964.jpg)
![“To have that radical a mind in that bourgeois-looking body was really hard for a lot of people to take, because, when my mother would want to have people over she'd tell [my father], "Don't start with the gravity stuff." And then he would invariably do this and the guests would look at each other…” quote by Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d1c/paul-laffoley-7077_body_to-have-that-radical-a-mind-in-that-bour_3151518.jpg)
![“I mean, these are really dedicated people [in Lovecraft Society] when it comes to [h.P.] Lovecraft. But in the top floor of the John Hay Library, you have all of Lovecraft's archives. And messing around in there, I noticed, I said, what are these paintings? And the librarian told me, "Well, those…” quote by Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7e/paul-laffoley-7077_archives_i-mean-these-are-really-dedicated-people_1355532.jpg)
![“I would have private conversations with [Buckminster Fuller]. I once had an argument, for four hours, about the existence of the Mobius strip. Because he believed in the Klein Bottle, you see. And I said, "How in hell can you claim to believe in the Klein Bottle and think that the Mobius strip is…” quote by Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38b/paul-laffoley-7077_angle_i-would-have-private-conversations-with_1024797.jpg)
![“[Buckminster Fuller] was quite a Newtonian in certain ways. But he was an excellent inventor and kept people on their toes.” quote by Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad6/paul-laffoley-7077_buckminster-fuller_buckminster-fuller-was-quite-a-newtonian_1718154.jpg)
![“[Buckminster Fuller] always liked to say that he got kicked out of Harvard three times. Mostly you only got kicked out once, but he kept coming back.” quote by Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f2/paul-laffoley-7077_buckminster-fuller_buckminster-fuller-always-liked-to-say-t_1604644.jpg)
![“I started modeling myself on [ Buckminster Fuller], like with the hair. I reached an age where I sort of, kind of, looked like him a little bit, you know? I thought it was great.” quote by Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd4/paul-laffoley-7077_age_i-started-modeling-myself-on-buckminster_684133.jpg)
![“The tetrahedron was [ Buckminster Fuller's] big thing. He'd talk about it in the same way Plato talked about angles.” quote by Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8d/paul-laffoley-7077_angle_the-tetrahedron-was-buckminster-fuller-s_2068102.jpg)
![“[Buckminster Fuller] could do four, five hours straight where some people would leave, eat, get a snooze and come back and he's still going. He was like a fireplug.” quote by Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75c/paul-laffoley-7077_buckminster-fuller_buckminster-fuller-could-do-four-five-ho_543300.jpg)
![“It's called "Pickman's Mephitic Models," based on the story [Pickman's Model by H. P. Lovecraft].Certain things about it many people don't realize. Pickman was a real painter who lived between 1888 and 1926. Now, there's a question mark [gesturing toward the writing in the margins of the…” quote by Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf6/paul-laffoley-7077_certain_it-s-called-pickman-s-mephitic-models-ba_2476255.jpg)
![“[My father] had this quirky thing of not believing in gravity. And giving me a constant headache about that one. He would say if I showed any interest in gravity, I was becoming a dupe of the system. He could see indications I was beginning to believe in it.” quote by Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad6/paul-laffoley-7077_becoming_my-father-had-this-quirky-thing-of-not-b_2179081.jpg)
![“[H.P.Lovecraft] is thrust into some kind of outer space realm, like here [pointing toward the painting in progress]. In other words, he's recognized he's gone through R'lyeh, the Sunken City of R'lyeh, and then Cthulhu, the extraterrestrial, calls his band of worshippers home to recognize him as…” quote by Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/464/paul-laffoley-7077_anti-christ_h-p-lovecraft-is-thrust-into-some-kind-o_1509500.jpg)
![“In other words, you've got a journey as the plot, but it has to be in a lively environment, being able to create the mood. If you read "Pickman's Model," in other words, they're winding their way through the Boston Streets and [H.P.] Lovecraft researched what was there.” quote by Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d06/paul-laffoley-7077_able_in-other-words-you-ve-got-a-journey-as-t_3168154.jpg)
![“[My father] was a banker. He was the president of the Cambridge Trust Company, the head of the trust department, and he taught classes at the Harvard Business School. And he was a member of the Harvard Faculty Club, which I am, too, because what I did is... I have the same name as my father, only…” quote by Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64f/paul-laffoley-7077_bankers_my-father-was-a-banker-he-was-the-presid_1297432.jpg)
![“When I was in New York working for [Frederick] Kiesler, at night I listened to Jean Shephard who lasted from 1957 until 1976 and then went off the air. But also I was listening to Long John Nebel. Now, Long John was what Art Bell and George Noory do now.” quote by Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fd/paul-laffoley-7077_air_when-i-was-in-new-york-working-for-frede_855897.jpg)
![“I started with "Pickman's Model," because it was about Boston. I mean, what I loved about [H. P. Lovecraft], at first is his sense of scholarship of an area, setting an environment, enlivening it. I think that's one of the secrets of writing.” quote by Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c64/paul-laffoley-7077_areas_i-started-with-pickman-s-model-because-i_699330.jpg)
![“Now, we know this is what [H.P.] Lovecraft was into. Because he kept talking about how he wasn't interested in religion. In a heaven state there is no religion, meaning that you're seeing the whole thing ... I mean, to worship something means that it's something beyond you, right? In other words…” quote by Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d02/paul-laffoley-7077_heaven_now-we-know-this-is-what-h-p-lovecraft-w_2029774.jpg)
![“At 15 [my father] revolted against his father like any teenager, and said, "I'm out of here! What are you doing to me?" He thought he wouldn't be involved in that kind of stuff for the rest of his life. He just wanted to make money. He was one of those people who took over the family…” quote by Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7c/paul-laffoley-7077_borrowed_at-15-my-father-revolted-against-his-fat_149241.jpg)
![“When [my father] reached his majority, he was the head of the family. Everybody depended upon him. He went into a very uptight appearance; he would wear Chesterfield coats to work, Homburg hats, really getting into the whole thing. He knew people like Oscar Levant. He loved New York. He wanted to…” quote by Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86a/paul-laffoley-7077_appearance_when-my-father-reached-his-majority-he-w_393925.jpg)
![“[Buckminster Fuller ] never got past his freshman year [in Harvard], because the guy was an insane womanizer and he did parties every night, never studied anything, never took a note, didn't care about anything and just had a blast. So they said, "We gotta let you go. You get zeros all the time."…” quote by Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d37/paul-laffoley-7077_blast_buckminster-fuller-never-got-past-his-fr_3094366.jpg)