--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Living with depression is like trying to…" description: "\"Living with depression is like trying to keep your balance while you dance with a goat -- it is perfectly sane to prefer a partner with a better sense ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/483/andrew-solomon-1140_balance_living-with-depression-is-like-trying-to_2451463.jpg" --- # Living with depression is like trying to keep your balance… ![“Living with depression is like trying to keep your balance while you dance with a goat -- it is perfectly sane to prefer a partner with a better sense of balance.” quote by Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/483/andrew-solomon-1140_balance_living-with-depression-is-like-trying-to_2451463.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/483/andrew-solomon-1140_balance_living-with-depression-is-like-trying-to_2451463.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/483/andrew-solomon-1140_balance_living-with-depression-is-like-trying-to_2451463.jpg) > “Living with depression is like trying to keep your balance while you dance with a goat -- it is perfectly sane to prefer a partner with a better sense of balance.” [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Depression feels like a precarious dance, and seeking a balanced partner is a rational coping strategy. **In simple terms:** Depression is an unstable dance; better partners help. Key Takeaway Seek stable support. Themes mental health balance coping Mood hopeful empathetic Type advice inspirational When to use this quote - therapy - friendship - support groups - mindfulness practice Key Concepts psychology resilience relationship dynamics Questions to Reflect On - What supports help you stay balanced? - How can you find a steadier partner? A Different Perspective Balance may be hard to achieve alone. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Balance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/balance/) [Depression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depression/) [Depression Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depression-like/) [Goats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goats/) [Living Depression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/living-depression-573746/) [Partners](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/partners/) [Perfectly Sane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perfectly-sane-573747/) [Sane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sane/) [Sane Prefer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sane-prefer-573748/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) [Trying Balance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying-balance-389164/) ## Related quotes > [“People who were perfectly sane on Tuesday sometimes go nuts on Wednesday.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/people-who-were-perfectly-sane-on-tuesday-sometimes-go-nuts-on/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [“Crazy people always think they're perfectly sane. It's what makes them so crazy; their entire delusion lies within the fact that they believe they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nenia-campbell/crazy-people-always-think-they-re-perfectly-sane-it-s-what-makes-them/) [Nenia Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nenia-campbell/) > [“she had been perfectly agreeable until I showed my face. That’s how it is with that kind of madness. Ninety-nine per cent of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-lovesey/she-had-been-perfectly-agreeable-until-i-showed-my-face-that-s-how-it/) [Peter Lovesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-lovesey/) > [The problem with being nuts, she thought, is that you don't always feel as if you're nuts. Sometimes, in fact, you feel perfectly sane,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-moore/the-problem-with-being-nuts-she-thought-is-that-you-don-t-always-feel/) [Christopher Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-moore/) > [My name is Stephen Leeds, and I am perfectly sane. My hallucinations, however, are all quite mad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-sanderson/my-name-is-stephen-leeds-and-i-am-perfectly-sane-my-hallucinations/) [Brandon Sanderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandon-sanderson/) > [“People who are perfectly sane and happy don't make good literature, alas.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colette/people-who-are-perfectly-sane-and-happy-don-t-make-good-literature/) [Colette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colette/) > [“she freely admitted that of old she had been a little mad, and now she pretended to be perfectly sane.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-james/she-freely-admitted-that-of-old-she-had-been-a-little-mad-and-now-she/) [Henry James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-james/) > [As a mom, that's at the forefront of everything in my mind, so I'm always trying to balance, whether it's bringing Violet to work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-milian/as-a-mom-that-s-at-the-forefront-of-everything-in-my-mind-so-i-m/) [Christina Milian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-milian/) > [“Options. She can sleep with the door open, wander around freely, come and go without someone watching her every move. She hadn’t realized how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-baker-kline/options-she-can-sleep-with-the-door-open-wander-around-freely-come/) [Christina Baker Kline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-baker-kline/) > [“It's just that when you're trying to balance so many things at the same time, it's inevitable that something's going to fall.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susane-colasanti/it-s-just-that-when-you-re-trying-to-balance-so-many-things-at-the/) [Susane Colasanti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susane-colasanti/) > [I've been trying to find a balance between all things in my life - personal, singing, acting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/letoya-luckett/i-ve-been-trying-to-find-a-balance-between-all-things-in-my-life/) [LeToya Luckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/letoya-luckett/) > [“It was like trying to balance on a pair of knife blades. Who had thought of this mad form of travel in the first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tamora-pierce/it-was-like-trying-to-balance-on-a-pair-of-knife-blades-who-had/) [Tamora Pierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tamora-pierce/) > [We are all trying to balance our careers and children and give as much of ourselves and our time to them. You work and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-preston/we-are-all-trying-to-balance-our-careers-and-children-and-give-as/) [Kelly Preston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-preston/) > [For a really long time, I've been trying to find balance where I can talk about my feelings and be upfront with people, confront…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-green/for-a-really-long-time-i-ve-been-trying-to-find-balance-where-i-can/) [Anthony Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-green/) > [It's a constant challenge trying to find balance between styling, designing and being a mom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-zoe/it-s-a-constant-challenge-trying-to-find-balance-between-styling/) [Rachel Zoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-zoe/) ## More by Andrew Solomon > [“If you banish the dragons, you banish the heroes...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/if-you-banish-the-dragons-you-banish-the-heroes/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [I started traveling out of curiosity, but I have come to believe in travel's political importance, that encouraging a nation's citizenry to travel may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/i-started-traveling-out-of-curiosity-but-i-have-come-to-believe-in/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [When I was born, the wisdom was that homosexuality was an illness; that it was caused largely by somebody's mother, and a distorted relationship…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/when-i-was-born-the-wisdom-was-that-homosexuality-was-an-illness-that/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [A lot of people are very political when they are young, and then they outgrow it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/a-lot-of-people-are-very-political-when-they-are-young-and-then-they/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [Having always imagined myself in a fairly slim minority, I suddenly saw that I was in a vast company. Difference unites us. While each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/having-always-imagined-myself-in-a-fairly-slim-minority-i-suddenly/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [If your love didn't always contain the possibility of loss, it would be very different from human love as we know it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/if-your-love-didn-t-always-contain-the-possibility-of-loss-it-would/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [Antonin Artaud wrote on one of his drawings, "Never real and always true," and that is how depression feels. You know that it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/antonin-artaud-wrote-on-one-of-his-drawings-never-real-and-always/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [I met people on college campuses who were defining themselves as genderqueer to express revolutionary feelings, or to communicate their individuality; they were gender…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/i-met-people-on-college-campuses-who-were-defining-themselves-as/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [“In the throws of depression, one reaches a strange point at which it is impossible to see the line between ones own theatricality and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/in-the-throws-of-depression-one-reaches-a-strange-point-at-which-it/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [“Since I am writing a book about depression, I am often asked in social situations to describe my own experiences, and I usually end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/since-i-am-writing-a-book-about-depression-i-am-often-asked-in-social/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [Loving our own children is an exercise for the imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/loving-our-own-children-is-an-exercise-for-the-imagination/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [One the one hand, the simple fact that there are children and that I do have an effect on them has been one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/one-the-one-hand-the-simple-fact-that-there-are-children-and-that-i/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [I grew up feeling that to be gay was a tragedy. I didn't grow up thinking that it was morally wrong, but I grew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/i-grew-up-feeling-that-to-be-gay-was-a-tragedy-i-didn-t-grow-up/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [We need to acknowledge that families come in multiple shapes and sizes, that love is not a finite asset, and that caregiving involves more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/we-need-to-acknowledge-that-families-come-in-multiple-shapes-and/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [I had always wanted to have children, so it caused me a lot of grief when I was younger, and I had supposed that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/i-had-always-wanted-to-have-children-so-it-caused-me-a-lot-of-grief/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) [Explore all 282 Andrew Solomon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) ## More Balance quotes > [Balance suggests a perfect equilibrium. There is no such thing. That is a false expectation… There are going to be priorities and dimensions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-morrison/balance-suggests-a-perfect-equilibrium-there-is-no-such-thing-that-is/) [Denise Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-morrison/) > [The bones of my architecture are very much related to the structure, to the physical fact of how a building can stand up; it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/santiago-calatrava/the-bones-of-my-architecture-are-very-much-related-to-the-structure/) [Santiago Calatrava](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/santiago-calatrava/) > [I can still function when I don't have that balance I crave. I had a tendency to be precious about acting, thinking of it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-regan/i-can-still-function-when-i-don-t-have-that-balance-i-crave-i-had-a/) [Laura Regan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-regan/) > [she got a reputation for an easy smile and a sharp tongue, and using one to balance the other, she seemed friendly but distant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-allison/she-got-a-reputation-for-an-easy-smile-and-a-sharp-tongue-and-using/) [Dorothy Allison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-allison/) > [Life's unfairness is not irrevocable; we can help balance the scales for others, if not always for ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hubert-h-humphrey/life-s-unfairness-is-not-irrevocable-we-can-help-balance-the-scales/) [Hubert H. Humphrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hubert-h-humphrey/) > [“We don't need to strive towards balance, we rather need to work on the obstacles that are preventing the natural flow of balance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-a-alebraheem/we-don-t-need-to-strive-towards-balance-we-rather-need-to-work-on-the/) [A.A. Alebraheem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-a-alebraheem/) > [I think that kind of balance comes with the process of growing together as a band, the Little Dragon. We love to write, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yukimi-nagano/i-think-that-kind-of-balance-comes-with-the-process-of-growing/) [Yukimi Nagano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yukimi-nagano/) > [Balance is the ability to be happy in the midst of the most chaotic or even boring or transient circumstance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/balance-is-the-ability-to-be-happy-in-the-midst-of-the-most-chaotic/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [At times of recession, running a budget deficit is highly desirable. Once the economy begins to recover, you have to balance the budget. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-soros/at-times-of-recession-running-a-budget-deficit-is-highly-desirable/) [George Soros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-soros/) > [It's my intention to make something stand outside the realm of album art, but it also feels comfortable to me to be in it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dyer-baizley/it-s-my-intention-to-make-something-stand-outside-the-realm-of-album/) [John Dyer Baizley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dyer-baizley/) > [Once you've gotten your money in balance, you know how much you have to spend on things that are just fun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-warren/once-you-ve-gotten-your-money-in-balance-you-know-how-much-you-have/) [Elizabeth Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-warren/) > [I never understood how much running changes your life. I'm now obsessed. When not trying to beat my personal best, I'm talking to other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadiq-khan/i-never-understood-how-much-running-changes-your-life-i-m-now/) [Sadiq Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadiq-khan/) > [Whatever needed to be done, I need to know how to do it just as well as my wife. You know, for us to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-isbell/whatever-needed-to-be-done-i-need-to-know-how-to-do-it-just-as-well/) [Jason Isbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-isbell/) > [I don't think my parents would have let me go straight into acting full time when I was 12. I do like to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felicity-jones/i-don-t-think-my-parents-would-have-let-me-go-straight-into-acting/) [Felicity Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felicity-jones/) > [When it comes down to music, I have no balance. I am 100 percent. It is like full throttle. Five hundred miles an hour.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yanni/when-it-comes-down-to-music-i-have-no-balance-i-am-100-percent-it-is/) [Yanni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yanni/) [Browse all 5,166 Balance quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/balance/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Living with depression is like trying to keep your balance while you dance with a goat -- it is perfectly sane to prefer a partner with a better sense of balance.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Andrew Solomon" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/living-with-depression-is-like-trying-to-keep-your-balance-while-you/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Balance" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/living-with-depression-is-like-trying-to-keep-your-balance-while-you/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/483/andrew-solomon-1140_balance_living-with-depression-is-like-trying-to_2451463.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/483/andrew-solomon-1140_balance_living-with-depression-is-like-trying-to_2451463.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/483/andrew-solomon-1140_balance_living-with-depression-is-like-trying-to_2451463.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Living with depression is like trying to keep your balance while you dance with a goat -- it is perfectly…” — Andrew Solomon", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Andrew Solomon", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Living with depression is like trying...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/living-with-depression-is-like-trying-to-keep-your-balance-while-you/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/living-with-depression-is-like-trying-to-keep-your-balance-while-you/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```