Quotessence
Home / Books / Madness: A Bipolar Life

Madness: A Bipolar Life

Book by Marya Hornbacher · 21 quotes · Madness, Bipolar Disorder, Long

Filter quotes by topic

AllMadnessBipolar DisorderLongStillsWaterBipolarBrainDepressionDetachmentEmptinessFallFeelingsFirstsLonelyNumbNumbnessPeopleRealityWantAbsence

Madness: A Bipolar Life Quotes

“And so I am feeling numb. It's a curious feeling, and I get it all the time. My attention to the world around me disappears, and something starts to hum inside my head. Far off, voices try to bump up against me, but I repel them. My ears fill up with water and I focus on the humming in my head.”

WorldTryingFeelingsVoiceWaterAttentionFocusEarsDisappearCuriousEmptinessDetachmentNumbBumpsNumbnessHumming
Book:Madness: A Bipolar Life
Create image

“Madness will push you anywhere it wants. It never tells you where you're going, or why. It tells you it doesn't matter. It persuades you. It dangles something sparkly before you, shimmering like that water patch on the road up ahead. You will drive until you find it, the treasure, the thing you most desire. You will never find it. Madness may mock you so long you will die of the search. Or it will tire of you, turn its back, oblivious as you go flying. The car is beside you, smoking, belly-up, still spinning its wheels.”

WantMayLongStillsMatterDesireDiesTurnsWaterCarMadnessFlyingTreasureWheelsSmokingBellyTirePatchesSpinningMockObliviousBeside You
Book:Madness: A Bipolar Life
Create image

“We're like little kids. We are little kids, but don't tell us that—we're having a fantastic time. We have our little house, and live our little life. We are the perfect young husband and wife. We have nonstop dinner parties—the glorious food, the fabulous friends, the gallons of wine. I sometimes feel as if I've raced off a cliff and am spinning my legs in midair, like Wile E. Coyote. But I'm fine. It's fine. It's all going to be fine. Crazy people don't have dinner parties, do they? No.”

MadnessBipolarManiaBipolar Disorder
Book:Madness: A Bipolar Life
Create image

“You know those afternoons," he asks, drawing a shaking breath, "where you’re just going along, doing fine, and then afternoon comes and it feels like you’ve just got the wind knocked out of you and everything is wrong?" He sighs and slowly pushes himself so he’s sitting upright. His shoulders are slumped. "That’s all," he says. "It’s just one of those afternoons." We are silent for a minute. Then he lies back down on the couch. I should say I love him. I should say it will be all right. But it won’t. I walk down the hall to my bedroom. I lie down on my side and stare at the wall, the blue-flowered wallpaper next to my nose. Despite my best efforts, I start to cry. I know those afternoons.”

DepressionMadnessHornbacher
Book:Madness: A Bipolar Life
Create image