--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Sometimes I think illness sits inside…" description: "\"Sometimes I think illness sits inside every woman, waiting for the right moment to bloom. I have known so many sick women all my life. Women with chron..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/693/gillian-flynn-316_backache_sometimes-i-think-illness-sits-inside-ev_813730.jpg" --- # Sometimes I think illness sits inside every woman, waiting… ![“Sometimes I think illness sits inside every woman, waiting for the right moment to bloom. I have known so many sick women all my life. Women with chronic pain, with ever-gestating diseases. Women with conditions. Men, sure, they have bone snaps, they have backaches, they have a surgery or two…” quote by Gillian Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/693/gillian-flynn-316_backache_sometimes-i-think-illness-sits-inside-ev_813730.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/693/gillian-flynn-316_backache_sometimes-i-think-illness-sits-inside-ev_813730.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/693/gillian-flynn-316_backache_sometimes-i-think-illness-sits-inside-ev_813730.jpg) > “Sometimes I think illness sits inside every woman, waiting for the right moment to bloom. I have known so many sick women all my life. Women with chronic pain, with ever-gestating diseases. Women with conditions. Men, sure, they have bone snaps, they have backaches, they have a surgery or two, yank out a tonsil, insert a shiny plastic hip. Women get consumed.” [Gillian Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Women often bear hidden illnesses that surface unpredictably, unlike men’s more visible ailments. **In simple terms:** Women’s hidden illnesses emerge unexpectedly. Key Takeaway Recognize and validate women’s chronic pain. Themes health gender chronic illness Mood empathetic serious Type advocacy reflective When to use this quote - healthcare visits - support groups - workplace accommodations - family discussions Key Concepts medical sociology pain perception Questions to Reflect On - How can healthcare better address women’s chronic conditions? - What societal changes reduce stigma? A Different Perspective Medical bias may overlook women’s symptoms. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Backache](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/backache/) [Chronic pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chronic-pain/) [Disease](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disease/) [Illness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illness/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [Right moment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/right-moment/) [Surgery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surgery/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Waiting for the right moment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/waiting-for-the-right-moment/) ## Related quotes > [“Sometimes I think illness sits inside every woman, waiting for the right moment to bloom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/sometimes-i-think-illness-sits-inside-every-woman-waiting-for-the-2/) [Gillian Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/) > [“In addition to being coerced, lied to and repeatedly exposed to non-curable life-threatening diseases, many women experience severe damage to internal body parts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelley-lubben/in-addition-to-being-coerced-lied-to-and-repeatedly-exposed-to-non/) [Shelley Lubben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelley-lubben/) > [Women will tell you, 80 percent of the time - if you listen - what is wrong with them. And what frustrates me, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-gundry/women-will-tell-you-80-percent-of-the-time-if-you-listen-what-is/) [Steven Gundry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-gundry/) > [When a woman is exhorted to be compliant, cooperative, and quiet, to not make upset or go against the old guard, she is pressed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarissa-pinkola-estes/when-a-woman-is-exhorted-to-be-compliant-cooperative-and-quiet-to-not/) [Clarissa Pinkola Estes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarissa-pinkola-estes/) > [“I'd forgotten this about women: so many conditions. A man shouldn't take them to heart, and yet he does, because he doesn't want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/i-d-forgotten-this-about-women-so-many-conditions-a-man-shouldn-t/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [Well, I like to think that my illness has prevented me from rising to any number of dizzy heights.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/well-i-like-to-think-that-my-illness-has-prevented-me-from-rising-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I think illness is a family journey, no matter what the outcome. Everybody has to be allowed to process it and mourn and deal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcia-wallace/i-think-illness-is-a-family-journey-no-matter-what-the-outcome/) [Marcia Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcia-wallace/) > [“If you want to secure Dhyana, let go of your anxieties and failures in the past; let bygones be bygones; cast aside enmity, shame,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kaiten-nukariya/if-you-want-to-secure-dhyana-let-go-of-your-anxieties-and-failures-in/) [Kaiten Nukariya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kaiten-nukariya/) > [If you constantly think of illness, you eventually become ill; if you believe yourself to be beautiful, you become so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shakti-gawain/if-you-constantly-think-of-illness-you-eventually-become-ill-if-you/) [Shakti Gawain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shakti-gawain/) > [“Just as everything in my life has changed, every new morning brings with it a fresh challenge. I have to think about something other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henning-mankell/just-as-everything-in-my-life-has-changed-every-new-morning-brings/) [Henning Mankell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henning-mankell/) > [Love is a lot like a backache. It doesn't show up on x-rays, but you know it's there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-is-a-lot-like-a-backache-it-doesn-t-show-up-on-x-rays-but-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Rolling my trousers down to expose the upper part of my buttocks and having a knife pressed up and down my spine by a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-dimbleby/rolling-my-trousers-down-to-expose-the-upper-part-of-my-buttocks-and/) [Jonathan Dimbleby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-dimbleby/) > [The Alexander Technique helped a long-standing back problem and to get a good night's sleep after many years of tossing and turning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-newman/the-alexander-technique-helped-a-long-standing-back-problem-and-to/) [Paul Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-newman/) > [I very often used to get backaches due to the fact that I was wrong. Whenever you are wrong you have to fight or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-soros/i-very-often-used-to-get-backaches-due-to-the-fact-that-i-was-wrong/) [George Soros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-soros/) > [“People talk about books that write themselves, and it's a lie. Books don't write themselves. It takes thought and research and a backache and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/people-talk-about-books-that-write-themselves-and-it-s-a-lie-books/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) ## More by Gillian Flynn > [“Our kind of love can go into remission, but it's always waiting to return. Like the world sweetest cancer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/our-kind-of-love-can-go-into-remission-but-it-s-always-waiting-to/) [Gillian Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/) > [The midwest is great because it hasn't been entirely claimed. There's more room to write about it; it's harder to write about New York,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/the-midwest-is-great-because-it-hasn-t-been-entirely-claimed-there-s/) [Gillian Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/) > [“Sometimes it is all too loud.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/sometimes-it-is-all-too-loud/) [Gillian Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/) > [“My thank-yous always come out rather labored. I often don't give them at all. People do what they're supposed to do and then wait…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/my-thank-yous-always-come-out-rather-labored-i-often-don-t-give-them/) [Gillian Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/) > [There’s something disturbing about recalling a warm memory and feeling utterly cold.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/there-s-something-disturbing-about-recalling-a-warm-memory-and/) [Gillian Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/) > [“My life has begun to feel like an epilogue.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/my-life-has-begun-to-feel-like-an-epilogue/) [Gillian Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/) > [“The Victorians, especially southern Victorians, needed a lot of room to stray away from each other, to duck tuberculosis and flu, to avoid rapacious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/the-victorians-especially-southern-victorians-needed-a-lot-of-room-to/) [Gillian Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/) > [“You think: Oh, here is the rest of my life. It’s finally arrived.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/you-think-oh-here-is-the-rest-of-my-life-it-s-finally-arrived/) [Gillian Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/) > [What a generous thing that is, I realize, for a husband to try to make his wife laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/what-a-generous-thing-that-is-i-realize-for-a-husband-to-try-to-make/) [Gillian Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/) > [I am a great believer in jobs for teens. They teach important life lessons, build character, and inflict just the right amount of humiliation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/i-am-a-great-believer-in-jobs-for-teens-they-teach-important-life/) [Gillian Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/) > [“you'd literally lie, cheat, and steal -hell, kill- to convince people you are a good guy”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/you-d-literally-lie-cheat-and-steal-hell-kill-to-convince-people-you/) [Gillian Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/) > [My imagination is more tweaked by imagining the lives of the people who were there before us. I don't need to give myself the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/my-imagination-is-more-tweaked-by-imagining-the-lives-of-the-people/) [Gillian Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/) > [“Given my druthers now, I’d prefer a snapshot of Warren Harding’s wife, “the Duchess,” who recorded the smallest offenses in a little red notebook…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/given-my-druthers-now-i-d-prefer-a-snapshot-of-warren-harding-s-wife/) [Gillian Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/) > [A town so suffocating and small, you tripped over people you hated every day. People who knew things about you. It's the kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/a-town-so-suffocating-and-small-you-tripped-over-people-you-hated/) [Gillian Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/) > [“For a long time Cool Girl offended me. I used to see men - friends, coworkers, strangers - giddy over these awful pretender women,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/for-a-long-time-cool-girl-offended-me-i-used-to-see-men-friends/) [Gillian Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/) [Explore all 668 Gillian Flynn quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/) ## More Backache quotes > [“People talk about books that write themselves, and it's a lie. Books don't write themselves. It takes thought and research and a backache and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/people-talk-about-books-that-write-themselves-and-it-s-a-lie-books/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [I very often used to get backaches due to the fact that I was wrong. Whenever you are wrong you have to fight or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-soros/i-very-often-used-to-get-backaches-due-to-the-fact-that-i-was-wrong/) [George Soros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-soros/) > [The Alexander Technique helped a long-standing back problem and to get a good night's sleep after many years of tossing and turning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-newman/the-alexander-technique-helped-a-long-standing-back-problem-and-to/) [Paul Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-newman/) > [Rolling my trousers down to expose the upper part of my buttocks and having a knife pressed up and down my spine by a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-dimbleby/rolling-my-trousers-down-to-expose-the-upper-part-of-my-buttocks-and/) [Jonathan Dimbleby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-dimbleby/) > [Love is a lot like a backache. It doesn't show up on x-rays, but you know it's there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-is-a-lot-like-a-backache-it-doesn-t-show-up-on-x-rays-but-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I never have anything go wrong. Never have a backache. Never have a headache. Never have anything else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-h-murdock/i-never-have-anything-go-wrong-never-have-a-backache-never-have-a/) [David H. Murdock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-h-murdock/) > [Well, it so happens that I have had a spinal curvature since I was about thirteen and every once in a while that has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/well-it-so-happens-that-i-have-had-a-spinal-curvature-since-i-was/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“87 % of youngsters have backache, and rest of 13 % have no computer..!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/himmilicious/87-of-youngsters-have-backache-and-rest-of-13-have-no-computer/) Himmilicious > [There is very little that is accidental in my work. I believe in serendipity for developments of plot, but the actual writing is arrived…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cormier/there-is-very-little-that-is-accidental-in-my-work-i-believe-in/) [Robert Cormier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cormier/) > [I've helped people get rid of headaches by placing my hand on their forehead, and backaches by placing my hand on their back. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelley-long/i-ve-helped-people-get-rid-of-headaches-by-placing-my-hand-on-their/) [Shelley Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelley-long/) [Browse all 11 Backache quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/backache/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Sometimes I think illness sits inside every woman, waiting for the right moment to bloom. I have known so many sick women all my life. Women with chronic pain, with ever-gestating diseases. Women with conditions. Men, sure, they have bone snaps, they have backaches, they have a surgery or two, yank out a tonsil, insert a shiny plastic hip. Women get consumed.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gillian Flynn" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/sometimes-i-think-illness-sits-inside-every-woman-waiting-for-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Backache" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/sometimes-i-think-illness-sits-inside-every-woman-waiting-for-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/693/gillian-flynn-316_backache_sometimes-i-think-illness-sits-inside-ev_813730.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/693/gillian-flynn-316_backache_sometimes-i-think-illness-sits-inside-ev_813730.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/693/gillian-flynn-316_backache_sometimes-i-think-illness-sits-inside-ev_813730.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Sometimes I think illness sits inside every woman, waiting for the right moment to bloom. I have known so…” — Gillian Flynn", "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": "Gillian Flynn", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Sometimes I think illness sits inside...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/sometimes-i-think-illness-sits-inside-every-woman-waiting-for-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/sometimes-i-think-illness-sits-inside-every-woman-waiting-for-the/#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 } } ] } ```