--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It was like watching a dear friend go…" description: "\"“It was like watching a dear friend go insane.”\" — Erik Larson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/717/erik-larson-1710_dear-friend_it-was-like-watching-a-dear-friend-go-in_977664.png" --- # It was like watching a dear friend go insane. ![“It was like watching a dear friend go insane.” quote by Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/717/erik-larson-1710_dear-friend_it-was-like-watching-a-dear-friend-go-in_977664.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/717/erik-larson-1710_dear-friend_it-was-like-watching-a-dear-friend-go-in_977664.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/717/erik-larson-1710_dear-friend_it-was-like-watching-a-dear-friend-go-in_977664.png) > ““It was like watching a dear friend go insane.”” [Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Witnessing a friend's mental decline evokes deep empathy and sorrow, highlighting the fragility of sanity. **In simple terms:** Friend’s decline is heartbreaking. Key Takeaway Offer compassion and support. Themes mental health empathy loss Mood somber empathetic Type narrative emotional When to use this quote - family crises - health care - social support Key Concepts psychology human relationships Questions to Reflect On - How can you support a friend in crisis? - What signs indicate mental distress? A Different Perspective May induce helplessness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dear friend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dear-friend/) [Friend Insane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friend-insane-1919272/) [Friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendship/) [Insane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insane/) [Like Watching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-watching-235887/) [Watching Dear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/watching-dear-1919273/) ## Related quotes > [It was too nerve-wracking, a shocking spectacle, like seeing an old, calm friend go insane.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/it-was-too-nerve-wracking-a-shocking-spectacle-like-seeing-an-old/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [I guess I'm insane, it's defined as being foolish or illogical, and I thought you were my best friend, so insane fits nicely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harrison-daniel/i-guess-i-m-insane-it-s-defined-as-being-foolish-or-illogical-and-i/) [Harrison Daniel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harrison-daniel/) > [I gave my archive to Emory University because there's a really dear friend who teaches there, Rudolph Byrd, and he's the editor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/i-gave-my-archive-to-emory-university-because-there-s-a-really-dear/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [I wanted to tell the story of Luong Ung, who's a dear friend of mine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angelina-jolie/i-wanted-to-tell-the-story-of-luong-ung-who-s-a-dear-friend-of-mine/) [Angelina Jolie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angelina-jolie/) > [“We were putting into these gomers our fear of death, but who knew if they feared death? 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My manager told me, ''Big…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/metta-world-peace/i-d-heard-of-the-name-big-brother-before-i-didn-t-realize-that-it-was/) [Metta World Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/metta-world-peace/) > [Being here, man, it's like watching porn. There's nothing bad about it at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-ochocinco/being-here-man-it-s-like-watching-porn-there-s-nothing-bad-about-it/) [Chad Ochocinco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chad-ochocinco/) > [You know, I feel like when we're watching films, typically, the films do the thinking for you, one could say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramell-ross/you-know-i-feel-like-when-we-re-watching-films-typically-the-films-do/) [RaMell Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramell-ross/) > [I felt like I was watching the transfomation of two people: Victor to wolf, and Cole to someone else. I was the only one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-stiefvater/i-felt-like-i-was-watching-the-transfomation-of-two-people-victor-to/) [Maggie Stiefvater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-stiefvater/) > [When I see myself on TV, it's like watching a film with Bruce Willis in it. You think it's somebody else. It's weird.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-taylor/when-i-see-myself-on-tv-it-s-like-watching-a-film-with-bruce-willis/) [Phil Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-taylor/) > [I don't really like watching 3-D.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-deakins/i-don-t-really-like-watching-3-d/) [Roger Deakins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-deakins/) > [I like watching a 'Ram Leela.' I like my dance and song.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahira-khan/i-like-watching-a-ram-leela-i-like-my-dance-and-song/) [Mahira Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahira-khan/) > [Personally, I don't like watching violence. I'd much rather see more skin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cameron-diaz/personally-i-don-t-like-watching-violence-i-d-much-rather-see-more/) [Cameron Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cameron-diaz/) ## More by Erik Larson > [I've heard from the movie marketplace that James Cameron did such a killer job with 'Titanic' that it's almost impossible to do anything better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/i-ve-heard-from-the-movie-marketplace-that-james-cameron-did-such-a/) [Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/) > [As a rule, I am very skeptical of tying books to anniversaries. I don't think readers care. I also feel that it just about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/as-a-rule-i-am-very-skeptical-of-tying-books-to-anniversaries-i-don-t/) [Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/) > [“look as if they had been plucked from the Palace of Versailles or a Jacobean mansion—that you were aboard a ship being propelled far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/look-as-if-they-had-been-plucked-from-the-palace-of-versailles-or-a/) [Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/) > [That's what I love about history - nuance. I don't believe in unalloyed heroes. Everyone's got warts, and everyone's got a surprise side.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/that-s-what-i-love-about-history-nuance-i-don-t-believe-in-unalloyed/) [Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/) > [“Holmes was charming and gracious, but something about him made Belknap uneasy. He could not have defined it. Indeed, for the next several decades…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/holmes-was-charming-and-gracious-but-something-about-him-made-belknap/) [Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/) > [. . . why some men choose to fill their brief allotment of time engaging the impossible, others in the manufacture of sorrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/why-some-men-choose-to-fill-their-brief-allotment-of-time-engaging/) [Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/) > [“At present," he said, "I am responsible for conveying my associates to a place called Chicago. I understand it is somewhere in the hinterland.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/at-present-he-said-i-am-responsible-for-conveying-my-associates-to-a/) [Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/) > [I knew from an online search that the Wisconsin State Historical Society, on the vast University of Wisconsin campus, held the papers of Sigrid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/i-knew-from-an-online-search-that-the-wisconsin-state-historical/) [Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/) > [Dodd continued to hope that the murders would so outrage the German public that the regime would fall, but as the days passed he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/dodd-continued-to-hope-that-the-murders-would-so-outrage-the-german/) [Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/) > [I envy other writers who claim to have a backlog of books they'd like to write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/i-envy-other-writers-who-claim-to-have-a-backlog-of-books-they-d-like/) [Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/) > [Trying to find ideas is the hardest part of my job. You'd think it would be the most fun. Just sitting around reading whatever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/trying-to-find-ideas-is-the-hardest-part-of-my-job-you-d-think-it/) [Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/) > [“Her blind endorsement of Hitler’s regime first faded to a kind of sympathetic skepticism, but as summer approached,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/her-blind-endorsement-of-hitler-s-regime-first-faded-to-a-kind-of/) [Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/) > [“Perhaps, Herr Ditzen, it is less important where one lives than how one lives.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/perhaps-herr-ditzen-it-is-less-important-where-one-lives-than-how-one/) [Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/) > [I figured, correctly, that Berlin in February was not a destination coveted by tourists. I found good airfares on Lufthansa, an airline I quite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/i-figured-correctly-that-berlin-in-february-was-not-a-destination/) [Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/) > [“It was truly a transitional moment: There he was, at the cusp of the twentieth century, using the telephone to send a telegram.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/it-was-truly-a-transitional-moment-there-he-was-at-the-cusp-of-the/) [Erik Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/) [Explore all 214 Erik Larson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/) ## More Dear friend quotes > [I gave my archive to Emory University because there's a really dear friend who teaches there, Rudolph Byrd, and he's the editor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/i-gave-my-archive-to-emory-university-because-there-s-a-really-dear/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [“The little things really do matter. We remember the quirky things about each other and it makes us smile, think back into the past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cathy-lawshe/the-little-things-really-do-matter-we-remember-the-quirky-things/) [Cathy Lawshe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cathy-lawshe/) > [In a library we are surrounded by many hundreds of dear friends, but they are imprisoned by an enchanter in these paper and leathern…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/in-a-library-we-are-surrounded-by-many-hundreds-of-dear-friends-but/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“We were putting into these gomers our fear of death, but who knew if they feared death? Perhaps they welcomed death like a dear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-shem/we-were-putting-into-these-gomers-our-fear-of-death-but-who-knew-if/) [Samuel Shem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-shem/) > [I wanted to tell the story of Luong Ung, who's a dear friend of mine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angelina-jolie/i-wanted-to-tell-the-story-of-luong-ung-who-s-a-dear-friend-of-mine/) [Angelina Jolie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angelina-jolie/) > [Duff McKagen's been a dear friend of mind for a long time, and he's a Seattlelite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-mccready/duff-mckagen-s-been-a-dear-friend-of-mind-for-a-long-time-and-he-s-a/) [Mike McCready](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-mccready/) > [“Because it is useless, and I tell them so at once. If you had confessed your fears to me sooner, I would have reassured…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-de-maupassant/because-it-is-useless-and-i-tell-them-so-at-once-if-you-had-confessed/) [Guy de Maupassant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-de-maupassant/) > [It takes two people to ruin a perfectly good day. First a person who says something downright nasty about you, and second, a dear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-takes-two-people-to-ruin-a-perfectly-good-day-first-a-person-who/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I am a pathetic and gushing Nick Hornby fan, and I wanted to be in High Fidelity, and I wanted to be in About…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-williams/i-am-a-pathetic-and-gushing-nick-hornby-fan-and-i-wanted-to-be-in/) [Olivia Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-williams/) > [“I don’t want to get old. I have this very silly fear, dear friend, that one day I’ll be old, without ever having really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beatrice-sparks/i-don-t-want-to-get-old-i-have-this-very-silly-fear-dear-friend-that/) [Beatrice Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beatrice-sparks/) > [I am involved with so many charitable organizations. Lung Cancer because of my dad, Breast Cancer because as a woman and mother of two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-robbins/i-am-involved-with-so-many-charitable-organizations-lung-cancer/) [Lois Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-robbins/) > [Ah! My dear friend painting is to us what the music of Berlioz and Wagner was before us - a consolatory art for sore…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/ah-my-dear-friend-painting-is-to-us-what-the-music-of-berlioz-and/) [Vincent Van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) > [“Dear friend now in the dusty clockless hours of the town when the streets lie black and steaming in the wake of the watertrucks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/dear-friend-now-in-the-dusty-clockless-hours-of-the-town-when-the/) [cormac mccarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [Receive, dear friend, the truths I teach, So shalt thou live beyond the reach Of adverse Fortune's pow'r; Not always tempt the distant deep,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/receive-dear-friend-the-truths-i-teach-so-shalt-thou-live-beyond-the/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [“I understood her, trusted her, and loved her as a dear friend. None of that had changed, or could be changed by anything as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-cline/i-understood-her-trusted-her-and-loved-her-as-a-dear-friend-none-of/) [Ernest Cline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-cline/) [Browse all 471 Dear friend quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dear-friend/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It was like watching a dear friend go insane.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Erik Larson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/it-was-like-watching-a-dear-friend-go-insane/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dear friend" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/it-was-like-watching-a-dear-friend-go-insane/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/717/erik-larson-1710_dear-friend_it-was-like-watching-a-dear-friend-go-in_977664.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/717/erik-larson-1710_dear-friend_it-was-like-watching-a-dear-friend-go-in_977664.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/717/erik-larson-1710_dear-friend_it-was-like-watching-a-dear-friend-go-in_977664.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It was like watching a dear friend go insane.” — Erik Larson", "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": "Erik Larson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-larson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“It was like watching a dear...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/it-was-like-watching-a-dear-friend-go-insane/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-larson/it-was-like-watching-a-dear-friend-go-insane/#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 } } ] } ```