--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Reading is socially accepted…" description: "\"Reading is socially accepted disassociation. You flip a switch and you’re not there anymore. It’s better than heroin. More effective and cheaper and le..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fe/mary-karr-3335_accepted_reading-is-socially-accepted-disassociat_1430541.png" --- # Reading is socially accepted disassociation. You flip a… ![“Reading is socially accepted disassociation. You flip a switch and you’re not there anymore. It’s better than heroin. More effective and cheaper and legal.” quote by Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fe/mary-karr-3335_accepted_reading-is-socially-accepted-disassociat_1430541.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fe/mary-karr-3335_accepted_reading-is-socially-accepted-disassociat_1430541.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fe/mary-karr-3335_accepted_reading-is-socially-accepted-disassociat_1430541.png) > “Reading is socially accepted disassociation. You flip a switch and you’re not there anymore. It’s better than heroin. More effective and cheaper and legal.” [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Escapism through reading offers a safe, legal, and inexpensive way to detach from reality. **In simple terms:** Reading lets you escape reality safely. Key Takeaway Use reading as a healthy break, not a substitute for life. Themes escapism literature mental health Mood contemplative balanced Type literary psychological When to use this quote - stress relief - traveling - learning new perspectives - creative inspiration Key Concepts psychology culture Questions to Reflect On - When does reading become avoidance? - What real-life actions could complement this escape? A Different Perspective Overreliance may avoid confronting real issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Heroin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heroin/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) ## Related quotes > [I would argue that it's almost better to do heroin than to watch TV. At least when you're doing heroin you're responsible for your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/i-would-argue-that-it-s-almost-better-to-do-heroin-than-to-watch-tv/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Reading is a socially acceptable form of hallucination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-furman/reading-is-a-socially-acceptable-form-of-hallucination/) [Laura Furman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-furman/) > [I want to be two people at once. One runs away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/i-want-to-be-two-people-at-once-one-runs-away/) [Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/) > [I had a certain kind of disassociation from the other kids because I had more interest in sociology, ideas and trying to communicate those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-biersack/i-had-a-certain-kind-of-disassociation-from-the-other-kids-because-i/) [Andy Biersack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-biersack/) > [“It registers that I am sitting there topless, but this body I am in doesn't feel like mine anymore so the half-nakedness seems irrelevant,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-miller/it-registers-that-i-am-sitting-there-topless-but-this-body-i-am-in/) [Lauren Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-miller/) > [I had been experiencing brief flashes of disassociation, or shallow states of non-ordinary reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-castaneda/i-had-been-experiencing-brief-flashes-of-disassociation-or-shallow/) [Carlos Castaneda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-castaneda/) > [“Sometimes I wish I was in the movies...Not to be famous or nothing. 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I mean, like, I can remember all the phone numbers of everybody on the street I grew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/i-do-have-a-really-good-memory-i-mean-like-i-can-remember-all-the/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [Ninety percent of what's wrong with you could be cured with a hot bath, says God from the bowels of the subway. but we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/ninety-percent-of-what-s-wrong-with-you-could-be-cured-with-a-hot/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [I always say that a poet loves the world, and the prose writer needs to create an alternative world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/i-always-say-that-a-poet-loves-the-world-and-the-prose-writer-needs/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [Even the best of us are at least part-time bastards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/even-the-best-of-us-are-at-least-part-time-bastards/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [“And Meredith says that reminds her of a Camus novel, the one about the plague, and she tells the story of it, the tale…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/and-meredith-says-that-reminds-her-of-a-camus-novel-the-one-about-the/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [When people suffer, their relationships usually suffer as well. 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Once…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/i-believe-in-god-but-even-if-you-don-t-you-can-believe-in-a-self-the/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [Love is the only passion which includes in its dreams the happiness of someone else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/love-is-the-only-passion-which-includes-in-its-dreams-the-happiness/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [It strikes me that whatever advantages there are to being a boy--getting to stay out late and having other people wash your clothes and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/it-strikes-me-that-whatever-advantages-there-are-to-being-a-boy/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [“I liked to call myself a poet and had affected a habit of reading classical texts (in translation, of course – I was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/i-liked-to-call-myself-a-poet-and-had-affected-a-habit-of-reading/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [It turned out to be impossible for me to 'run away' in the sense other American teenagers did. 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It's the stupid hopes playacting like certainties.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/what-hurts-so-bad-about-youth-isn-t-the-actual-butt-whippings-the/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) [Explore all 133 Mary Karr quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) ## More Accepted quotes > [Merkel has realized that the euro is not working, but she cannot change the narrative she has created because that narrative has caught the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-soros/merkel-has-realized-that-the-euro-is-not-working-but-she-cannot/) [George Soros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-soros/) > [I started off playing by ear, and being around a bunch of musicians and playing in the streets and in the different parades and,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/troy-andrews/i-started-off-playing-by-ear-and-being-around-a-bunch-of-musicians/) [Troy Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/troy-andrews/) > [Greatness is not guarding yourself from people. 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Cardozo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-n-cardozo/) > [ We have reached a situation where a theory has been accepted as fact by some, and possible contrary evidence is shunted aside. \[This is\]… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-shapiro/we-have-reached-a-situation-where-a-theory-has-been-accepted-as-fact/) [Robert Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-shapiro/) > [And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-if-all-others-accepted-the-lie-which-the-party-imposed-if-all/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [I was in a conversation and someone said: "You know, we were talking about the whole issue of transgender and how it has become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oprah-winfrey/i-was-in-a-conversation-and-someone-said-you-know-we-were-talking/) [Oprah Winfrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oprah-winfrey/) > [Divorce is so common and accepted in America that beating myself up over it may sound ridiculous. 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