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Existential Crisis Quotes

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Existential Crisis Quotes

“I am not alone. Existing in this melancholic world causes numerous individuals to feel remorseful and even harbor resentment. Contemplating the world fills me with melancholy. I sense a profound disconnection from the world. Feeling completely drained by my internal and external despair and indifference. I find myself filled with regret and eagerly await the conclusion. I believe my overwhelming anxiety has transformed into anhedonia and depression. Feelings of emptiness and not fitting in are common to all people. Feeling like an outsider hinders connection with others. Once quite the extrovert. I have always experienced a deep sense of disconnection, but at this stage of my life, numerous things have gone awry, making it almost unbearable.”

DespairDepressionAlienationSchizophreniaExistential CrisisAkathisiaMid Life CrisisMelancholiaAnhedonia
Author:Jonathan Harnisch
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“There is no time in what you are going through. Your suffering is a place, and you don't know whether you can ever leave this place. You don't even have enough hope to wish that it be over faster. Faster doesn't exist, any more than time itself. You are not alive enough to measure it. You live in a present of incessant pain.”

SufferingDespairPerseveranceIsolationEnduranceIntrospectionAnguishHopelessnessTimelessnessExistential Crisis
Book:The Laws of the Skies
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“I should have learned many things from that experience, but when I look back on it, all I gained was one single, undeniable fact. That ultimately I am a person who can do evil. I never consciously tried to hurt anyone, yet good intentions notwithstanding, when necessity demanded, I could become completely self-centered, even cruel. I was the kind of person who could, using some plausible excuse, inflict on a person I cared for a wound that would never heal. College transported me to a new town, where I tried, one more time, to reinvent myself. Becoming someone new, I could correct the errors of my past. At first I was optimistic: I could pull it off. But in the end, no matter where I went, I could never change. Over and over I made the same mistake, hurt other people, and hurt myself in the bargain. Just after I turned twenty, this thought hit me: Maybe I've lost the chance to ever be a decent human being. The mistakes I'd committed—maybe they were part of my very makeup, an inescapable part of my being. I'd hit rock bottom, and I knew it.”

EvilNovelPsychologyJapanIntrospectionGood IntentionsModernismExistential Crisis
Book:South of the Border, West of the Sun
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“A volley thundered — and the prisoner kneeling beside Peter collapsed lifelessly into the dirt. Three more men fell elsewhere along the line. “Reload!” the State Security lieutenant kept commanding. “Aim!” Peter turned his gaze toward the NKVD squad. A rifle was pointed straight at his chest, the bayonet gleaming. He looked into the barrel. “Can a crude piece of lead really destroy my unique soul forever? No — that is absurd!” In a state of shock, he felt himself tearing away from reality, rising above the turmoil into a silvery, radiant height. Below, his body knelt on the ground. But his essence — his soul — watched what was happening with bitter irony from above. His gaze turned toward the beautiful light descending from the heavens. Peter shuddered. The rifle was still aimed at his chest. Yet he felt no fear. Now he knew: his soul could not die — it was impossible. His essence, his spirit — and therefore he himself — were immortal. “Stand down!” the NKVD lieutenant said with relief. “This time you are spared. But if there is any further sabotage, there will be no mercy.” — Volodymyr Shablia, Stone. Book One Context note: During a prisoner transport in Stalin’s USSR, Peter witnesses an execution and is moments away from being shot himself. Facing death, fear gives way to a profound inner realization about the immortality of the human spirit.”

FearInner StrengthExecutionHuman SpiritNear DeathExistential CrisisNear Death ExperienceGulagMoral StrengthStalin Era
Book:Камень. Биографический роман: Часть первая. Первые шаги к свету и обратно
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“Apakah sudah nasibku untuk menjadi lain daripada apa yang telah disuratkan nasib? Tidak menjadi perempuan (menurut pengertian kata ini yang diterima orang) dan tidak menjadi dokter (menurut gelarku dari sekolah kedokteran)? Atau memang sudah nasibku untuk menjadi orang sebelum menjadi perempuan, menjadi seorang seniman sebelum menjadi seorang dokter?”

FateWomanWomanhoodDoctorExistential Crisis
Book:موت معالي الوزير سابقاً
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“Existential anguish derives from the human freedom to think and act, experience love for life, and fear death. We must decide whether we wish to embrace all experience and encounters in life or seek escape from various aspect of human nature. How we resolve to address existential anguish becomes a large part of our personal story.”

FearHuman NatureFear Of DeathExperiencesFreedom Of ThoughtEscapismExistential CrisisExistential AngstEscape From RealityPersonal Accountability
Book:Dead Toad Scrolls
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“We come from this earth and we will return to this earth. The word human is a derivative of the word humus. We spring from the same soil that houses our ancestor’s great sleep. We walk on the fossilized bones and decomposed flesh of all the people and every species that traversed the earth before our time. It is humbling and reassuring to know that I entered this life-giving sphere only after so many good people came before me to consecrate this land with their vitality and knowing that we share the universal story of struggle. It is consoling understanding that after I die Mother Earth will turn my decomposed shell into a new form of life. My decaying body will provide nutrients for life that will rise after I die. Until the soil opens up to receive me as its own child, I must take a stand and make the most out of the sunshine and rainstorms that beat down upon all people alike.”

StruggleLife And LivingExistentialismLife And DeathExistential CrisisExistence QuotesExistential Angst
Book:Dead Toad Scrolls
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“We are yet to comprehend the unexplainable buried deep into the unreachable abysses of our minds. Something—swerving inside—which deprives you of peace even when you feel content with the life you have, something which casts the stormy dark clouds over your existence, something which devours your tranquility like a black hole does to whatever inches towards it. Incessant struggle with the lurking demons makes you realise your powerlessness, coercing you to make peace with the inconspicuous, the unexplainable, the inseparable embed within you. And it gradually thrives enshrouding the purpose of your existence.”

ExistenceStruggleEmotionsMadnessInsanityPowerlessnessExistential CrisisMental Chaos
Author:Renuka Goria
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“I live to enjoy life by the littlest things, feeling the grass between my toes, breathing fresh air, watching the wind sway the trees, enjoying the company of loved ones, a deep conversation, getting lost in a good book, going for a walk in nature, watching my kids grow up. Just the feeling itself of being alive, the absolute amazing fact that we are here right now, breathing, thinking, doing.”

AppreciateAppreciationMeaning Of LifeLittle ThingsWhat MattersSearch For MeaningLife Worth LivingAppreciate LifeExistential CrisisAppreciating LifeWhat Matters MostWhy We LiveWhat To Do With Your LifeAppreciation Of NatureWhy Am I HereExistential DepressionLittle Things That MatterHow To Spend Your TimeLittle Things In Your LifeWhat Makes Life Worth LivingA Life Worth LivingIts The Little ThingsWhat Do I DoAppreciate The WorldAprpeciating LifeIt S The Little ThingsWhat To Focus OnWhy LiveWorld Around Us
Author:Marigold Wellington
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“Our digital devices and the outlooks they inspired allowed us to break free of the often repressive timelines of our storytellers, turning us from creatures led about by future expectations into more fully present-oriented human beings. The actual experience of this now-ness, however, is a bit more distracted, peripheral, even schizophrenic than that of being fully present. For many, the collapse of narrative led initially to a kind of post-traumatic stress disorder—a disillusionment, and the vague unease of having no direction from above, no plan or story. But like a dose of adrenaline or a double shot of espresso, our digital technologies compensate for this goalless drifting with an onslaught of simultaneous demands. We may not know where we're going anymore, but we're going to get there a whole lot faster. Yes, we may be in the midst of some great existential crisis, but we're simply too busy to notice.”

TechnologyBusyNarrativeDistractionPresentExistential CrisisPresent Shock
Book:Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now
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“All is gloom. The grave is at the door. And now, when weighed down by the pains and aches of old age, when the head inclines to the feet, when the beginning and ending of human existence meet, and helpless infancy and painful old age combine together—at this time, this most needful time, the time for the exercise of that tenderness and affection which children only can exercise toward a declining parent—my poor old grandmother, the devoted mother of twelve children, is left all alone, in yonder little hut, before a few dim embers”

GriefDepressionExistential Crisis
Book:My Bondage and My Freedom
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“I liked Chicago. The cold of it. The anonymity of it. I could be anyone. I put on Converse sneakers and walked along the gritty sidewalks, which seemed to contain just a dash of carbonation. I bounced. I felt like I could become the person I wanted to be. Not a cheater, not a depressive, not a recipient of cosmic justice. But a person with a happy home at home. But on nights when Heather was gone, gone with her boyfriend across town, when the city light poured in purple through the window, I'd realize I could not ignore the reality of it all. The emptiness of my life. An emptiness that was only growing wider and colder as I warmed by the light of my hope. And so. I was desperate. Simply put. I was desperate to come up with some way of continuing forward on what looked like a doomed mission.”

LossGriefLonlinessExistential Crisis
Book:Why Fish Don’t Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life
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“I couldn't bear being this suburban mom who was alternating between screaming at her kids and being the heartfelt, privileged witness to their joy. But the people around us - the haranguing mothers and sexless fathers - I kept trying to find ways that I was better than these people, but all I kept landing on was the fact that the common denominator was me.”

HumorParentingParentsParenthoodDreadDisneyExistential CrisisMidlife CrisisExistential AngstDisney World
Book:Fleishman Is in Trouble
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“Nobody says it, of course, it’s all ‘I’m so excited; I’m so happy for you!’ But deep down, every friend is thinking ‘Shit. Everything’s changing. I’m going to lose my mate to this person who could absolutely be a total and utter bastard. And I’ve got to smile throughout it while I let them go into the arms of a potential monster. And what does that mean for us?’ Poke writing a speech, I would actually like to spend my time having an existential crisis in peace.”

LifeSpeechLosingRelatableBest FriendChangingExistential Crisis
Book:Dear Emmie Blue
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“There is absolutely no worse death curse than the humdrum daily existence of the living dead.”

DeathLife PhilosophyDespairDepressionLife And LivingFulfillmentBoredomEmptinessLife And DeathHopelessPessimismDeath And DyingProcrastinationHopelessnessDiscontentSelf PityDead PeopleMeaninglessnessFulfilling Your PotentialFulfilling Your DestinyExistential CrisisFulfilling LifeDeath WishEmpty LifeZest For LifeMeaningful LivingLack Of AmbitionMeaninglessness Of LifeLiving DeadDead SoulsEmpty Soul
Author:Anthon St. Maarten
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“What is it, what nameless, inscrutable, unearthly thing is it; what cozening, hidden lord and master, and cruel, remorseless emperor commands me; that against all natural lovings and longings, I so keep pushing, and crowding, and jamming myself on all the time; recklessly making me ready to do what in my own proper, natural heart, I durst not so much dare? Is Ahab, Ahab? Is it I, God, or who, that lifts this arm? But if the great sun move not of himself; but is as an errand-boy in heaven; nor one single star can revolve, but by some invisible power; how then can this one small heart beat; this one small brain think thoughts; unless God does that beating, does that thinking, does that living, and not I. By heaven, man, we are turned round and round in this world, like yonder windlass, and Fate is the handspike. And all the time, lo! that smiling sky, and this unsounded sea! Look! see yon Albicore! who put it into him to chase and fang that flying-fish? Where do murderers go, man! Who's to doom, when the judge himself is dragged to the bar?”

RegretConscienceExistential Crisis
Author:Herman Melville
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“Our reward for surviving the hard knocks of a corporal life is arguably paltry. The inevitability of the big sleep is our final reward for laying it all on the line each day that we still breathe. A person whom elects to transform him or herself does so because they believe that life is worthwhile. If a troubled person mints a newly reconstituted persona, it might enable them serenely to accept everything life calls for, even struggle, loss, defeat, disintegration, and death.”

Philosophy Of LifeMeaning Of LifeLife And DeathPurpose Of LifeJourney Of LifePurposeful LivingEnlightened OneExistential CrisisExistential Angst
Book:Dead Toad Scrolls
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“Why do people have mid-life crises? It’s because they don’t know who they are. And suddenly they realise time is running out. They have to fight to be authentic, to be REAL. All the time, people are having breakdowns brought on by identity crises. They have lived their lives in bad faith. They have been fakes and phonies, frauds and impostors. They have impersonated human beings rather than actually being human beings. They have spent their whole lives in a state of alienation from themselves and from God. Isn’t it time we saved the human race from the controllers, the brainwashers, the identity constructors? People can never be free until they are free to become who they really are. As Nietzsche said, “We want to become those who we are – the new, the unique, the incomparable, those who impose on themselves their own law, those who create themselves!” Is that not the formula for a new, free world, a world of Supermen and Superwomen, a transformed world of individuals on the path to divinity? Revalue all values. Abolish Abrahamism. Abolish the control machine.”

Mind ControlBrainwashingNietzscheExistential CrisisSuperwomanAbrahamismSupermen
Book:Jehovah: The First Nazi
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“The Edge of Reason by Stewart Stafford I do not want to die or take my own life, I cling to the outside of skyscraper metal, Thick, choking smoke rakes my shoulder, Scorching flames lash my back and legs. I showered, dressed and went to work, I arrived early, said hello, found my desk, Then the building shifted, smiles faded, Everything changed, and here we are. God, please take me quickly, I beg you, Bless my loved ones, I hope they understand, A Rorschach test for shocked rubberneckers, I let the air pressure suck me out and drop. The initial relief of vacating impossibility, Turns to violent buffeting in wind currents, Clothes ripped off as I spin, falling faster, Crowds point, the ground rushes towards me. © 2024, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.”

SurvivalTragedyDisasterDeath And DyingSocial CommentaryWorld Trade CenterExistential CrisisSeptember 11thTwin Towers9 11 Poem
Author:Stewart Stafford
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“Even in the most breathtaking moments, the weight of my existence remains unbearable. Technology offers no salvation—I despise it. If any refuge is left in this unraveling mind, it lies in the fleeting embrace of desire, the numb surrender of oblivion, or perhaps nothing at all. And yet, love lingers, haunting and relentless, even in the depths of regret.”

Life QuotesSchizophreniaSuicidal ThoughtsExistential CrisisAkathisiaDystoniaMental Health StrugglesSurviving Darkness
Book:Sex, Drugs, and Schizophrenia
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