Susanna Kaysen

All my integrity seemed to lie in saying No.

— Susanna Kaysen

The only way to stay sane is to go a little crazy.

— Susanna Kaysen

“Sana di mente in un mondo di pazzi.”

— Susanna Kaysen

Every window in Alcatraz has a view of San Francisco.

— Susanna Kaysen

The world didn't stop because we weren't in it anymore.

— Susanna Kaysen

You have to have a somewhat cold heart to be a writer.

— Susanna Kaysen

I am not a nurse escorting six lunatics to the ice cream parlor.

— Susanna Kaysen

As far as I could see, life demanded skills I didn't have.

— Susanna Kaysen

Being crasy doesn't mean to be broken...It is you and me amplified", Girl, Interrupted

— Susanna Kaysen

I'm your mind", it claims. "You can't parse ME into dendrites and synapses

— Susanna Kaysen

“She rushed out, because the darkness in the theater was too much when combined with the darkness in her head .”

— Susanna Kaysen

“How the fuck else am I going to get any attention in this place?" Lisa always called the hospital 'this place.”

— Susanna Kaysen

I told her once I wasn’t good at anything. She told me survival is a talent.

— Susanna Kaysen

“One of the great pleasures of mental health (whatever that is) is how much less time I have to spend thinking about…

— Susanna Kaysen

If I could have any job in the world I'd be a professional Cinderella.

— Susanna Kaysen

“Once you start parsing a face, it's a peculiar item: squishy, pointy, with lots of air vents and wet spots.”

— Susanna Kaysen

Have you ever confused a dream with life? Or stolen something when you have the cash? Have you ever been blue? Or…

— Susanna Kaysen

A successful suicide demands good organization and a cool head, both of which are usually incompatible with the suicidal state of mind.

— Susanna Kaysen

“People ask, How did you get in there? What they really want to know is if they are likely to end up…

— Susanna Kaysen

It's a fairly accurate portrait of me at eighteen, minus a few quirks like reckless driving and eating binges. It's accurate but…

— Susanna Kaysen

This behavior may...counteract feelings of'numbness'and depersonalization that aries duriing periods of extreme stress.-153 Girl,Interrupted

— Susanna Kaysen

Maybe, there's a moment growing up when something peels back... Maybe, maybe, we look for secrets because we can't believe our minds...

— Susanna Kaysen

Lunatics are similar to designated hitters. Often an entire family is crazy, but since an entire family can't go into the hospital,…

— Susanna Kaysen

The girl at her music sits in another sort of light,the fitful,overcast light of lie,by which we see ourselves and others only…

— Susanna Kaysen

“I got better and Daisy didn't and I can't explain why. Maybe I was just flirting with madness the way I flirted…

— Susanna Kaysen

This time I read the title of the painting: Girl Interrupted at Her Music. Interrupted at her music: as my life had…

— Susanna Kaysen

“Insanity comes in two basic varieties: slow and fast... Viscosity and Velocity are opposites, yet they can look the same. Viscosity causes…

— Susanna Kaysen

Suicide is a form of murder - premeditated murder. It isn't something you do the first time you think of doing it.…

— Susanna Kaysen

Emptiness and boredom: what an understatement. What I felt was complete desolation. Desolation, despair, and depression. Isn't there some other way to…

— Susanna Kaysen

Which is worse, overload or underload? Luckily, I never had to choose. One or Pass on to where? Back into my cells…

— Susanna Kaysen

And this was the main precondition, that anything might be something else. Once I'd accepted that, it followed that I might be…

— Susanna Kaysen

In the parallel universe the laws of physics are suspended. What goes up does not necessarily come down, a body at rest…

— Susanna Kaysen

“Some people say that having any conscious opinion on the matter is a mark of sanity, but I'm not sure that's true.…

— Susanna Kaysen

“I walked past the lady in yellow robes and the maid bringing her a letter, past the soldier with a magnificent hat…

— Susanna Kaysen

“The disorder is more common in women." Note the construction of that sentence. They did not write, "The disorder is more common…

— Susanna Kaysen

“Why did she do it? Nobody dared to ask. Because - what courage! Who had the courage to burn herself? Twenty aspirin,…

— Susanna Kaysen

“People ask, How did you get in there? What they really want to know is if they are likely to end up…

— Susanna Kaysen

“Now, I would say to myself, you are feeling alienated from people and unlike other people, therefore you are projecting your discomfort…

— Susanna Kaysen

“Suicide is a form of murder— premeditated murder. It isn’t something you do the first time you think of doing it. It…

— Susanna Kaysen

“I’ve gone back to the Frick since then to look at her and at the two other Vermeers. Vermeers, after all, are…

— Susanna Kaysen