Quotessence
Home / Authors / Antonella Gambotto-Burke
Antonella Gambotto-Burke

Antonella Gambotto-Burke Quotes

Author

Filter quotes by topic

AllFeminismPornographyBirthSuicideFemininityDrugsInfancyMotherhoodPatriarchyAttachmentLoveSexFeelsFeminineObstetricsPornWomenAddictionBabiesDepression

Famous Antonella Gambotto-Burke Quotes

“The light in that room was a glow; I seem to remember the color green, or perhaps flowers. A pale green sheet covered his inert body but not his head, which lay (eyes closed, mouth set in a tense and terrible grimace) unmoving. Gianluca. Barely able to see, barely able to stand - my knees kept buckling – and breathing so quietly I thought that I, too, might die; that out of shock, I would just drift away, the shell of my body cracking open. No longer anchored by my brother’s love, I would be reabsorbed by sky. Gianluca. If there was never another sound in the world, I would understand – yes, that would be appropriate, it would be fitting. This was the antithesis of music, the antithesis of noise. My brother’s death seemed to demand silence of all the world. Gianluca.”

LossGriefDespairDepressionHeartbreakSuicideMourningBereavementIdentificationMorgueAsphyxiationSibling LossViewingGassingHelium Suicide
Book:The Eclipse: A Memoir of Suicide
Create image

“My brother was philosophically impaired, emotionally paralysed and stubborn, but he was not mentally ill. Mental illness suggests some kind of biological maladjustment such as that caused by injury or drug-induced chemical imbalances, whereas my brother, like many male suicides I have known, reacted normally to an abnormal situation. My brother felt he could not show the suffering that revealed him as sensitive; to do so would have threatened his gender status. It was easier for him to die.”

DeathSufferingDepressionSuicideMental IllnessToxic MasculinitySibling Suicide
Author:Antonella Gambotto-Burke
Create image

“Time is ungovernable, but grief presents us with a choice: what do we do with the savage energies of bereavement? What do we do with the memory - or in the memory - of the beloved? Some commemorate love with statuary, but behavior, too, is a memorial, as is a well-lived life. In death, there is always the promise of hope. The key is opening, rather than numbing, ourselves to pain. Above all, we must show our children how to celebrate existence in all its beauty, and how to get up after life has knocked us down, time and again. Half-dead, we stand. And together, we salute love. Because in the end, that's all that matters. How hard we loved, and how hard we tried.”

LoveDeathLossDepressionSuicideMemoryMourningBereavementGrief Inspirational
Book:The Eclipse: A Memoir of Suicide
Create image