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Antonella Gambotto-Burke

Antonella Gambotto-Burke Quotes

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Famous Antonella Gambotto-Burke Quotes

“As Baba Ram Dass (his ‘spiritual name’), Richard Alpert explained human attachment as a ‘clue that there’s work to be done’ – meaning that territoriality was remastered by him as dysfunctional and primitive, and as requiring the curative attentions of a guru, ordinarily an older man.”

WisdomEnlightenmentAttachmentDetachmentTimothy LearyRam DassRichard Alpert
Book:Apple: Sex, Drugs, Motherhood and the Recovery of the Feminine
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“Does any man have the right to dispose of his own life? This is the ultimate question of moral entitlement, and relevant only if right is relevant in this context, and it is not. A suicidal man cannot be concerned - and nor should he be - with questions of moral entitlement. (And how absurd.) His one concern should be whether self-execution will most expediently relieve his suffering.”

SufferingRightsSuicideReliefDavid HumeSelf ExecutionSuicidal ManMoral Entitlement
Book:The Eclipse: A Memoir of Suicide
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“Grey's thing has always been transgression – conscious, and without the interference of shame. In a world of people uncertain about the acceptability of their very bodies, such bold – some would even describe it as sociopathic – self-belief acts as a kind of fire against which the disordered, insecure and sexually nervous can warm their hands.”

PornographySex Positive FeminismSasha Grey
Book:On Sasha Grey: An Introduction
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“I refuse to have my vagina photographed because I have no interest in being desired on the basis of its appearance. It has taken me decades to appreciate its power and beauty, and not merely because it birthed a child. Responsive to tenderness and the source of a luminous ecstasy, my vagina has enabled me to transcend an otherwise limited sense of self. I feel no need to make it conform to another’s aesthetic or have it applauded by strangers.”

WomenPhotographyWomanhoodFemininityPornographyPornObjectificationReductionismVaginaSexual Organs
Author:Antonella Gambotto-Burke
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“This human need for mysticism – surrender to an unknown truth, union – stands at the helm of all romantic feeling. It is, in essence, the same intimacy known in a mother’s arms; in those who are deprived of the experience, the need freezes and, distorted, it can rent a life. All addiction has as its foundation skewed yearning for the same transcendence. For me, the spell of the material was broken by my brother’s death; after his suicide, all I wanted was the renewal of my connection to the intangible.”

NeedsHumansFeelingsWantedMotherKnownBrotherMaterialsBrokenArmsConnectionsEssenceFoundationSuicideUnionsAddictionSurrenderIntimacyMy BrotherMysticismSpellsYearningRenewalDeprivedTranscendenceFreezeIntangibleHuman NeedsHelmRomantic Feelings
Author:Antonella Gambotto-Burke
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“Sometimes I hear the world discussed as the realm of men. This is not my experience. I have watched men fall to the ground like leaves. They were swept up as memories, and burned. History owns them. These men were petrified in both senses of the word: paralyzed and turned to stone. Their refusal to express feeling killed them. Anachronistic men. Those poor, poor boys.”

MenWorldSometimesFeelingsFallMemoriesPoorBoysStonesSensesRealmsBurnedRefusalParalyzedPoor Boy
Book:The Eclipse: A Memoir of Suicide
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“My generation was, in effect, the product of a social experiment. If we did not understand marital intimacy, it was because we had not seen it modelled. We lurched from relationship to relationship, dazzled by the newness of meaninglessness, relentless in our search for something even the most perceptive of us could not identify.”

IfsSocialGenerationsEffectsProductsExperimentsIntimacyRelentlessMy GenerationNewnessMeaninglessness
Author:Antonella Gambotto-Burke
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“The self-esteem of western women is founded on physical being (body mass index, youth, beauty). This creates a tricky emphasis on image, but the internalized locus of self-worth saves lives. Western men are very different. In externalizing the source of their self-esteem, they surrender all emotional independence. (Conquest requires two parties, after all.) A man cannot feel like a man without a partner, corporation, team. Manhood is a game played on the terrain of opposites. It thus follows that male sense of self disintegrates when the Other is absent.”

MenFeelsTwoDifferentSelfBodyGamesPartyTeamSelf EsteemYouthEmotionalSourceMassOppositesIndependenceWesternMalesPartnersSurrenderSelf WorthEsteemCorporationsManhoodEmphasisConquestAbsentTrickySense Of SelfTerrainSave A Life
Book:The Eclipse: A Memoir of Suicide
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“Delirious as it can be, sex is only one kind of intimacy, and yet has become the cultural catchment area for all kinds of needs because our understanding of intimacy is so poor. Brutal work schedules, related geographic isolation, and the concomitant fracturing of families has meant that there is little time for intimacy, and even less to teach the necessary skills. But intimacy, the axis of romance, is slow, based on the sharing of a life rather than show. In terms of intimacy, folding laundry together or sharing the feeding of a child can have more impact than the most extravagant bouquet.”

NeedsKindChildrenLittlesShowsTogetherRomanceSexUnderstandingTermPoorTeachSkillsAreasImpactAll KindsIntimacyRelatedIsolationBrutalSchedulesFeedingLittle TimeLaundryExtravagantAxesBouquetsFoldingDelirious
Author:Antonella Gambotto-Burke
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“What's required of me in the field is to feel,' Stirton says with emphasis. 'And trying to take that feeling and put it in a form that communicates a particular set of emotions or circumstances - whether that involves depicting masculine pride, or a particular kind of suffering, or love, or closeness - my primary job is to feel and to try to put that feeling into some kind of visual form. My goal is to get to the heart of each story, you know? I’m trying to evolve in my work.”

KnowsFeelsTryingHeartKindStoriesFeelingsJobsFormSufferingGoalEmotionFieldsParticularPrideCircumstancesCommunicatePrimariesEvolveVisualsEmphasisMasculineCloseness
Author:Antonella Gambotto-Burke
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“For years, I worked seven-day weeks, through birthdays and most public holidays, Christmases and New Year’s Eves included. I worked mornings and afternoons, resuming work after dinner. I remember feeling as if life were a protracted exercise in pulling myself out of a well by a rope, and that rope was work.”

IfsYearsWellsFeelingsRememberMorningWeekExerciseSevenDinnerHolidayAfternoonNew YearPullingRopeNew Years EveWorkaholicSeven Days
Author:Antonella Gambotto-Burke
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“Other than his ex-wife and despite appearances with a series of cultivated blondes, Edward de Bono has never publicly aligned himself with a woman. 'I’m looking for a fat, cross-eyed hunchback,' he explains, stifling a giggle. 'A prosthetic hump would do.' His delight evaporates when asked about his three grandchildren. 'Am I a doting grandfather?' He pauses. 'I’m a … something grandfather, yes.' The fact that De Bono remains unperturbed by this lack betrays an emotionally austere childhood, and his passions for play, toys, and bad jokes tell of the same deprivation.”

PlayFactsPassionThreeWifeChildhoodJokesCrossesRemainsSeriesDelightAppearanceFatsDespiteBetrayToysGrandfatherPausesGrandchildrenExesDeprivationGiggleStiflingEx WifeProstheticsBad JokesHis Ex
Author:Antonella Gambotto-Burke
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“Suicide rates have not slumped under the onslaught of antidepressants, mood-stabilizers, anxiolytic and anti-psychotic drugs; the jump in suicide rates suggests that the opposite is true. In some cases, suicide risk skyrockets once treatment begins (the patient may feel not only penalized for a justifiable reaction, but permanently stigmatized as malfunctioning). Studies show that self-loathing sharply decreases only in the course of cognitive-behavioral treatment.”

FeelsMaySelfShowsCoursesCasesStudyRiskDrugOppositesSuicidePatientRateMoodReactionsTreatmentDecreaseLoathingCognitivePsychoticSelf LoathingAntidepressants
Book:The Eclipse: A Memoir of Suicide
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“We watched each other evolve into parents, with all the fear, rage and confusion evolution can involve. Our eight-year-old is the incarnation of our union; we are forever fused by her blood. My old take on romance seemed vaguely ludicrous, as affected as a pair of spats. I no longer saw the point in 'getting back to normal', that pantomime of pretending nothing had changed; I wanted to evolve from sexual posturing into a deeper consciousness, that of love.”

LoveYearsAgeWantedRomanceParentConsciousnessForeverSawsBloodChangedEvolutionNormalUnionsDeeperEightRageConfusionEvolvePairsAffectedPretendingIncarnationSpatsPantomime
Author:Antonella Gambotto-Burke
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“Strauss admits to being obsessed by his mother's rejection, and with the resultant rents in self-esteem. The Game echoes with disturbingly abusive comments leveled at his adolescent self, a self he feels was unacceptable. With bravado, he expresses regret that he didn't rack up more sexual conquests in his teens; in person, he expresses a truer regret that he was intimidated by life itself.”

FeelsPersonsSelfMotherGamesSelf EsteemRegretEsteemObsessedRejectionCommentTeensEchoesConquestIntimidatedAbusiveRacksBravado
Author:Antonella Gambotto-Burke
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