Quotessence
Home / Authors / Michael Benzehabe

Michael Benzehabe Quotes

Author

Filter quotes by topic

AllBenzehabeUnassimilatedZonkedYaImmigrantIranImmigrationPersepolisSpyTeensChinaDepressionGirlingMafiOtherworldOutsiderPersianalityShoutUncagedClaremont

Famous Michael Benzehabe Quotes

“I worry about this new America. People can’t go around laughing all the time. Eventually, everyone will come around to that realization. Mom doesn’t get it. She says, if you frown too long on the outside, eventually you’ll grow a frown on the inside. How could this apply to me? And who cares?”

AmericaFamilyMomDepressionLaughterSmileZonkedFrown
Book:Zonked Out: The Teen Psychologist of San Marcos Who Killed Her Santa Claus and Found the Blue-Black Edge of the Love Universe
Create image

“All the neighborhood dogs can see right through me. They know. They aren’t even barking. Out of pity, I suppose. The Carlucci’s dog is the worst barker in the neighborhood, but not today. I walk up to his gate and give it a shake. No reaction. He sits on the porch staring at me, like I ain’t nothin’. I look around and find a stick. I throw it at him. Down deep, I really didn’t intend to hit him, but the stick bounces off his rump. I cringe and cover my mouth. “Sorry,” I say. The old dog just walks to his back yard, disgusted with the whole mess. “You don’t understand,” I yell after him. “I’m having a life crisis!”

PsychologyDepressionGuiltTeensDogsSan DiegoLife CrisisSan MarcosAnna Wiley
Book:Zonked Out: The Teen Psychologist of San Marcos Who Killed Her Santa Claus and Found the Blue-Black Edge of the Love Universe
Create image

“Zoe stopped one last time in front of the mirror, adjusting her new American dress. She didn’t see the dress, however. She saw what the big Russian did to her. She saw what al-Qaeda did to her. She saw a person shunned by her Persian village. She saw ugliness. Every time she looked in the mirror she saw deficiency.”

DepressionShameRussiaInsecurityIranRapeAl QaedaDeficiencyPersianOutsiderImmigrantBenzehabeUnassimilatedShunnedWestern FashionAmerican Fashion
Author:Michael Benzehabe
Create image

“The trick is, don’t give in to the grief. Instead, I let myself feel it, embrace it, learn from it. In bed by 9:30, up at 7:00, breakfast, then off to school where I spend five mind-numbing hours living by the dictates of San Diego County’s Board of Education, the Western version of Mao’s Little Red Book.”

DepressionGrandfatherBenzehabeZonkedSt NicholasDbtSan MarcosDialectical Behavior Therapy
Book:Zonked Out: The Teen Psychologist of San Marcos Who Killed Her Santa Claus and Found the Blue-Black Edge of the Love Universe
Create image

“Mom, for example, is Procter and Gamble’s perfect repeat customer. Renovation contractors send her personalized Christmas cards. She lives for the Sunday edition of our local newspaper. She thumbs through the “Modern Home” section. She mopes through the rest of the day, unhappy with all her outdated things.”

DepressionChristmasUnhappinessShoppingOutdatedConsumerZonked
Book:Zonked Out: The Teen Psychologist of San Marcos Who Killed Her Santa Claus and Found the Blue-Black Edge of the Love Universe
Create image