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Susanna Kaysen Quotes

Scar tissue has no character. It’s not like skin. It doesn’t show age or illness or pallor or tan. It has no pores, no hair, no wrinkles. It’s like a slip cover. It shields and disguises what’s beneath. That’s why we grow it; we have something to hide Picture Quote #1

Viscosity and velocity are opposites, yet they can look the same. Viscosity causes the stillness of disinclination, velocity causes the stillness of fascination. An observer can’t tell if a person is silent and still because inner life has stalled or because inner life is transfixingly busy Picture Quote #1

It was a spring day, the sort that gives people hope: all soft winds and delicate smells of warm earth. Suicide weather Picture Quote #1

Actually, it was only part of myself I wanted to kill: the part that wanted to kill herself, that dragged me into the suicide debate and made every window, kitchen implement, and subway station a rehearsal for tragedy Picture Quote #1

I think many people kill themselves simply to stop the debate about whether they will or they won’t Picture Quote #1

Have you ever confused a dream with life? Or stolen something when you have the cash? Have you ever been blue? Or thought your train moving while sitting still? Maybe I was just crazy. Maybe it was the 60’s. Or maybe I was just a girl... interrupted Picture Quote #1

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It is easy to slip into a parallel universe. There are so many of them: worlds of the insane, the criminal, the crippled, the dying, perhaps of the dead as well. These worlds exist alongside this world and resemble it, but are not in it Picture Quote #1

I know what it’s like to want to die. How it hurts to smile. How you try to fit in but you can’t. How you hurt yourself on the outside to try to kill the thing on the inside Picture Quote #1

Was everybody seeing this stuff and acting as though they weren’t? Was insanity just a matter of dropping the act? Picture Quote #1

I told her once I wasn’t good at anything. She told me survival is a talent Picture Quote #1

Tell me that you don’t take that blade and drag it across your skin and pray for the courage to press down Picture Quote #1

When I was supposed to be awake, I was asleep. When I was supposed to sleep, I was silent. When a pleasure offered itself to me, I avoided it Picture Quote #1

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It’s one of the reasons I became a writer, to be able to smoke in peace Picture Quote #1

Our hospital was famous and housed many great poets and singers. Did the hospital specialize in poets and singers or was it that poets and singers specialized in madness? Picture Quote #1

There is thought, and then there is thinking about thoughts, and they don’t feel the same Picture Quote #1

It’s important to cultivate detachment. One way to do this is to practice imagining yourself dead, or in the process of dying. If there’s a window, you must imagine your body falling out of that window. If there’s a knife, you must imagine the knife piercing your skin. If there’s a train coming, you must imagine your torso flattened under its wheels. These excercises are necessary to achieving the proper distance Picture Quote #1

Maybe, there’s a moment growing up when something peels back... Maybe, maybe, we look for secrets because we can’t believe our mind Picture Quote #1

For many of us, the hospital was as much a refuge as it was a prison. Though we were cut off from the world and all the trouble we enjoyed stirring up out there, we were also cut off from the demands and expectations that had driven us crazy. What could be expected of us now that we were stowed away in a loony bin? Picture Quote #1

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Emptiness and boredom: what a complete understatement. What I felt was complete desolation. Desolation, despair and boredom Picture Quote #1

Twenty aspirin, a little slit alongside the veins of the arm, maybe even a bad half hour standing on a roof: We’ve all had those. And somewhat more dangerous things, like putting a gun in your mouth. But you put it there, you taste it, it’s cold and greasy, your finger is on the trigger, and you find that a whole world lies between this moment and the moment you’ve been planning, when you’ll pull the trigger. That world defeats you. You put the gun back in the drawer. You’ll have to find another way Picture Quote #1

A successful suicide demands good organization and a cool head, both of which are usually incompatible with the suicidal state of mind Picture Quote #1

... now I was safe, now I was really crazy, and nobody could take me out of there Picture Quote #1

An observer can’t tell if a person is silent and still because inner life has stalled or because inner life is transfixingly busy Picture Quote #1

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Scar tissue has no character. It’s not like skin. It doesn’t show age or illness or pallor or tan. It has no pores, no hair, no wrinkles. It’s like a slip cover. It shields and disguises what’s beneath. That’s why we grow it; we have something to hide (Susanna Kaysen Quotes) Viscosity and velocity are opposites, yet they can look the same. Viscosity causes the stillness of disinclination, velocity causes the stillness of fascination. An observer can’t tell if a person is silent and still because inner life has stalled or because inner life is transfixingly busy (Susanna Kaysen Quotes) It was a spring day, the sort that gives people hope: all soft winds and delicate smells of warm earth. Suicide weather (Susanna Kaysen Quotes) Actually, it was only part of myself I wanted to kill: the part that wanted to kill herself, that dragged me into the suicide debate and made every window, kitchen implement, and subway station a rehearsal for tragedy (Susanna Kaysen Quotes) I think many people kill themselves simply to stop the debate about whether they will or they won’t (Susanna Kaysen Quotes) Have you ever confused a dream with life? Or stolen something when you have the cash? Have you ever been blue? Or thought your train moving while sitting still? Maybe I was just crazy. Maybe it was the 60’s. Or maybe I was just a girl... interrupted (Susanna Kaysen Quotes) It is easy to slip into a parallel universe. There are so many of them: worlds of the insane, the criminal, the crippled, the dying, perhaps of the dead as well. These worlds exist alongside this world and resemble it, but are not in it (Susanna Kaysen Quotes) I know what it’s like to want to die. How it hurts to smile. How you try to fit in but you can’t. How you hurt yourself on the outside to try to kill the thing on the inside (Susanna Kaysen Quotes) Was everybody seeing this stuff and acting as though they weren’t? Was insanity just a matter of dropping the act? (Susanna Kaysen Quotes) I told her once I wasn’t good at anything. She told me survival is a talent (Susanna Kaysen Quotes) Tell me that you don’t take that blade and drag it across your skin and pray for the courage to press down (Susanna Kaysen Quotes) When I was supposed to be awake, I was asleep. When I was supposed to sleep, I was silent. When a pleasure offered itself to me, I avoided it (Susanna Kaysen Quotes) It’s one of the reasons I became a writer, to be able to smoke in peace (Susanna Kaysen Quotes) Our hospital was famous and housed many great poets and singers. Did the hospital specialize in poets and singers or was it that poets and singers specialized in madness? (Susanna Kaysen Quotes) There is thought, and then there is thinking about thoughts, and they don’t feel the same (Susanna Kaysen Quotes) It’s important to cultivate detachment. One way to do this is to practice imagining yourself dead, or in the process of dying. If there’s a window, you must imagine your body falling out of that window. If there’s a knife, you must imagine the knife piercing your skin. If there’s a train coming, you must imagine your torso flattened under its wheels. These excercises are necessary to achieving the proper distance (Susanna Kaysen Quotes) Maybe, there’s a moment growing up when something peels back... Maybe, maybe, we look for secrets because we can’t believe our mind (Susanna Kaysen Quotes) For many of us, the hospital was as much a refuge as it was a prison. Though we were cut off from the world and all the trouble we enjoyed stirring up out there, we were also cut off from the demands and expectations that had driven us crazy. What could be expected of us now that we were stowed away in a loony bin? (Susanna Kaysen Quotes) Emptiness and boredom: what a complete understatement. What I felt was complete desolation. Desolation, despair and boredom (Susanna Kaysen Quotes) Twenty aspirin, a little slit alongside the veins of the arm, maybe even a bad half hour standing on a roof: We’ve all had those. And somewhat more dangerous things, like putting a gun in your mouth. But you put it there, you taste it, it’s cold and greasy, your finger is on the trigger, and you find that a whole world lies between this moment and the moment you’ve been planning, when you’ll pull the trigger. That world defeats you. You put the gun back in the drawer. You’ll have to find another way (Susanna Kaysen Quotes) A successful suicide demands good organization and a cool head, both of which are usually incompatible with the suicidal state of mind (Susanna Kaysen Quotes) ... now I was safe, now I was really crazy, and nobody could take me out of there (Susanna Kaysen Quotes) An observer can’t tell if a person is silent and still because inner life has stalled or because inner life is transfixingly busy (Susanna Kaysen Quotes)

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