--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A long-term substance abuser, a few…" description: "\"A long-term substance abuser, a few months before his death, penned this poem: Went downtown, Hastings and Main, looking for relief from the pain. All ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd6/gabor-mat-1410_abusers_a-long-term-substance-abuser-a-few-month_2214051.png" --- # A long-term substance abuser, a few months before his… ![“A long-term substance abuser, a few months before his death, penned this poem: Went downtown, Hastings and Main, looking for relief from the pain. All I did was find a ticket on a one-way train. ... Give me peace before I die. The track is laid out so well; we all live our private hell; just more…” quote by Gabor Mate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd6/gabor-mat-1410_abusers_a-long-term-substance-abuser-a-few-month_2214051.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd6/gabor-mat-1410_abusers_a-long-term-substance-abuser-a-few-month_2214051.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd6/gabor-mat-1410_abusers_a-long-term-substance-abuser-a-few-month_2214051.png) > “A long-term substance abuser, a few months before his death, penned this poem: Went downtown, Hastings and Main, looking for relief from the pain. All I did was find a ticket on a one-way train. ... Give me peace before I die. The track is laid out so well; we all live our private hell; just more tickets on the hell-bound train.” [Gabor Mate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The poet describes feeling trapped in suffering, seeking escape through death, seeing life as a doomed journey toward personal hell. **In simple terms:** Feeling trapped, seeking death as escape. Key Takeaway Recognize pain, seek help before hopelessness grows. Themes suffering despair death escape Mood despair urgent reflective Type poetic cautionary emotional When to use this quote - substance abuse treatment - crisis counseling - support groups - emergency intervention Key Concepts existentialism addiction mental health Questions to Reflect On - What support could change this perspective? - How can we intervene before hopelessness deepens? A Different Perspective The metaphor may romanticize suicide, overlooking recovery possibilities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abusers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abusers/) [Before i die](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/before-i-die/) [Bounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bounds/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Death Penned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death-penned-4914322/) [Dies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dies/) [Downtown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/downtown/) [Drunkenness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drunkenness/) [Give me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/give-me/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Hell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hell/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Long term](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-term/) [Months](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/months/) [One way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/one-way/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [Penned Poem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/penned-poem-4914321/) [Poem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poem/) [Poem Went](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poem-went-3164838/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Private Hell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/private-hell-261782/) [Relief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/relief/) [Substance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/substance/) [Substance abuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/substance-abuse/) [Term](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/term/) [Tickets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tickets/) [Track](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/track/) [Train](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/train/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) ## Related quotes > [ I read the text; and then I come to the Shirat ha-Yam, to the Song of the Sea \[Exodus 15\], to the poetry. 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Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-e-grant/) > [ \[...\] "I recall what you said to me once," Will went on. "That words have the power to change us. Your words have changed… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/i-recall-what-you-said-to-me-once-will-went-on-that-words-have-the/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [Long ago, when I was a very young girl, I said that I wanted to go everywhere, see everything, taste everything. hear everything, touch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madalyn-murray-o-hair/long-ago-when-i-was-a-very-young-girl-i-said-that-i-wanted-to-go/) [Madalyn Murray O'Hair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madalyn-murray-o-hair/) > [“I sit up in bed and watch her fiddle about in the back of my wardrobe. I think she's got a plan. That's what's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-downham/i-sit-up-in-bed-and-watch-her-fiddle-about-in-the-back-of-my-wardrobe/) [Jenny Downham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-downham/) > [If I had to choose a song to listen to before I died, it would be Simone singing Começar de novo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-bittencourt-de-oliveira/if-i-had-to-choose-a-song-to-listen-to-before-i-died-it-would-be/) [Simone Bittencourt de Oliveira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-bittencourt-de-oliveira/) > [You smile upon your friend to-day, To-day his ills are over; You hearken to the lover's say, And happy is the lover. 'Tis late…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-smile-upon-your-friend-to-day-to-day-his-ills-are-over-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Gabor Mate > [“As parents who make every effort we can to raise our children in loving security, we do not need to feel more guilt than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/as-parents-who-make-every-effort-we-can-to-raise-our-children-in/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“The fact is, we in this society are often quite removed from our own emotional reality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/the-fact-is-we-in-this-society-are-often-quite-removed-from-our-own/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“Shame is the deepest of the “negative emotions,” a feeling we will do almost anything to avoid. Unfortunately, our abiding fear of shame impairs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/shame-is-the-deepest-of-the-negative-emotions-a-feeling-we-will-do/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“Many adults have not attained maturity — have not mastered being independent, self-motivated individuals capable of tending their own emotional needs and of respecting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/many-adults-have-not-attained-maturity-have-not-mastered-being/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [Autonomy is impossible as long as one is driven by anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/autonomy-is-impossible-as-long-as-one-is-driven-by-anything/) [Gabor Mate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“If a mother has eight children, there are eight mothers. This is not simply because of the fact that the mother was different in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/if-a-mother-has-eight-children-there-are-eight-mothers-this-is-not/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“Without attachment, the parent succeeds at most in cowing a child into obedience, at the price of grave damage to the relationship and to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/without-attachment-the-parent-succeeds-at-most-in-cowing-a-child-into/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“Attachment is our connection with the world. In the earliest attachment relationships, we gain or lose the ability to stay open, self-nurturing and healthy.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/attachment-is-our-connection-with-the-world-in-the-earliest/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“So what you've actually got is traumatized children. When children are traumatized that affects how they feel about themselves, which is deeply ashamed because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/so-what-you-ve-actually-got-is-traumatized-children-when-children-are/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“Even without world wars, revolutions and emigration, siblings growing up in the same home almost never share the same environment. More accurately, brothers and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/even-without-world-wars-revolutions-and-emigration-siblings-growing/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“We think that there are people who are normal over here, and then there’s the pathological ones who have depression, anxiety, addiction or schizophrenia…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/we-think-that-there-are-people-who-are-normal-over-here-and-then/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“One cannot get much more vulnerable than to expose oneself psychologically. To share oneself with another and then be misunderstood or rejected is, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/one-cannot-get-much-more-vulnerable-than-to-expose-oneself/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“The areas of the cortex responsible for attention and self-regulation develop in response to the emotional interaction with the person whom we may call…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/the-areas-of-the-cortex-responsible-for-attention-and-self-regulation/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“Peer-oriented children live in a universe of severely limited and superficial attachments. The quest for sameness being the least vulnerable way of attaching, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/peer-oriented-children-live-in-a-universe-of-severely-limited-and/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [“The United States contains less than 5 percent of the world’s population but houses nearly a quarter of the world’s prisoners.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/the-united-states-contains-less-than-5-percent-of-the-world-s/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) [Explore all 244 Gabor Mate quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) ## More Abusers quotes > [It's incredibly dangerous to leave an abuser, because the final step in the domestic violence pattern is: kill her.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-morgan-steiner/it-s-incredibly-dangerous-to-leave-an-abuser-because-the-final-step/) [Leslie Morgan Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-morgan-steiner/) > [The idea that the creative endeavor and mind-altering substances are entwined is one of the great pop-intellectual myths of our time. ... Substance abusing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/the-idea-that-the-creative-endeavor-and-mind-altering-substances-are/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [Few people are aware of the severe human rights violations committed daily by family court judges across the country. These courts are siding over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lundy-bancroft/few-people-are-aware-of-the-severe-human-rights-violations-committed/) [Lundy Bancroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lundy-bancroft/) > [Cocaine was different. It kept saying, "You haven't had enough." I became an abuser almost instantly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-carlin/cocaine-was-different-it-kept-saying-you-haven-t-had-enough-i-became/) [George Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-carlin/) > [Feminism exists so that no woman ever has to face her abuser in isolation, alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-dworkin/feminism-exists-so-that-no-woman-ever-has-to-face-her-abuser-in/) [Andrea Dworkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-dworkin/) > [ The getting out part \[of advise\] may well be true. Because if you have tried the tender love thing... typically the abuser is not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-chapman/the-getting-out-part-of-advise-may-well-be-true-because-if-you-have/) [Gary Chapman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-chapman/) > [“The people who were behind my abuse were very clever. They had created something which would be so difficult to explain, so difficult to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-matthew/the-people-who-were-behind-my-abuse-were-very-clever-they-had-created/) [Laurie Matthew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-matthew/) > [“Tenderness from empaths will be used against them time and time again by psychological abusers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-thomas/tenderness-from-empaths-will-be-used-against-them-time-and-time-again/) [Shannon Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-thomas/) > [“As an adult, it shatters me that the child parts of my mind froze at those ages, didn't develop, and continued to believe the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-hoffman/as-an-adult-it-shatters-me-that-the-child-parts-of-my-mind-froze-at/) [Wendy Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-hoffman/) > [ Just take them rascals \[rapists, killers, child abusers\] out in the swamp / Put 'em on their knees and tie 'em to a stump… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-daniels/just-take-them-rascals-rapists-killers-child-abusers-out-in-the-swamp/) [Charlie Daniels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-daniels/) > [“Both incest and the Holocaust have been subject to furious denial by perpetrators and other individuals and by highly organised groups such as the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-walker/both-incest-and-the-holocaust-have-been-subject-to-furious-denial-by/) [Janet Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-walker/) > [Hats off to drug abusers everywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-coleman/hats-off-to-drug-abusers-everywhere/) [Jerry Coleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-coleman/) > [“When an abuser gaslights, he or she sets up situations to make the target doubt their own memories and assessments of situations. This is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-thomas/when-an-abuser-gaslights-he-or-she-sets-up-situations-to-make-the/) [Shannon Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-thomas/) > [Forgiveness is created by the restitution of the abuser; of the wrongdoer. It is not something to be squeeeeeezed out of the victim in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-molyneux/forgiveness-is-created-by-the-restitution-of-the-abuser-of-the/) [Stefan Molyneux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-molyneux/) > [Deadbeat dads are the real trash of the world. Next are abusers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/deadbeat-dads-are-the-real-trash-of-the-world-next-are-abusers/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 128 Abusers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abusers/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A long-term substance abuser, a few months before his death, penned this poem: Went downtown, Hastings and Main, looking for relief from the pain. All I did was find a ticket on a one-way train. ... Give me peace before I die. 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