--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And someone else wrote me, \"What I want…" description: "\"“And someone else wrote me, \"What I want is to know your own experience of illness.\" Why the interest? People on their ailments are not always interest..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/692/nan-shin-265156_illness_and-someone-else-wrote-me-what-i-want-is_3020265.jpg" --- # And someone else wrote me, "What I want is to know your… ![“And someone else wrote me, "What I want is to know your own experience of illness." Why the interest? People on their ailments are not always interesting, far from it. But we all hope for a - must I say the word - recipe, we all believe, however much we know we shouldn't, that maybe somebody's got…” quote by Nan Shin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/692/nan-shin-265156_illness_and-someone-else-wrote-me-what-i-want-is_3020265.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/692/nan-shin-265156_illness_and-someone-else-wrote-me-what-i-want-is_3020265.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/692/nan-shin-265156_illness_and-someone-else-wrote-me-what-i-want-is_3020265.jpg) > ““And someone else wrote me, "What I want is to know your own experience of illness." Why the interest? People on their ailments are not always interesting, far from it. But we all hope for a - must I say the word - recipe, we all believe, however much we know we shouldn't, that maybe somebody's got that recipe and can show us how not to be sick, suffer and die.”” Nan Shin ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People seek personal illness narratives hoping to find a cure or guidance, though such stories may not always be useful. **In simple terms:** People look for illness stories for guidance. Key Takeaway Seek evidence beyond anecdotes. Themes illness personal narratives hope cure seeking human experience Mood concerned inquisitive Type Illness:1 Illness People:0 Experience Illness:0 Ailments Interesting:0 Sick Suffer:0 When to use this quote - patient support groups - health blogs - medical research discussions Key Concepts empathy medical storytelling critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - What reliable sources can you trust? - How can you balance hope with realism? A Different Perspective Anecdotal advice can be misleading. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Illness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illness/) ## Related quotes > [ “\[W\]e need not become fixated upon our own suffering, whatever its origin. We offer it up, thus participating in the well-being of the universe.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/w-e-need-not-become-fixated-upon-our-own-suffering-whatever-its/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“There’s such a stigma attached to mental illness that people are often reluctant to talk about it, or admit that they, or someone they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lori-wilde/there-s-such-a-stigma-attached-to-mental-illness-that-people-are/) [Lori Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lori-wilde/) > [When you have mental illness you don't have a plaster or a cast or a crutch, that let everyone know that you have the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinead-o-connor/when-you-have-mental-illness-you-don-t-have-a-plaster-or-a-cast-or-a/) [Sinead O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinead-o-connor/) > [“She made a sound of frustration that no one else could hear. 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They have risk factors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-sheff/certain-people-are-more-likely-to-use-drugs-because-of-whatever-it-is/) [David Sheff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-sheff/) > [Only three per cent of people are born with a disability; the rest acquire it through accident or illness, but people come out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-mcvey/only-three-per-cent-of-people-are-born-with-a-disability-the-rest/) [Esther McVey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-mcvey/) > [People who tend not to report illness are people who are highly competitive and do not want to admit they are not coping.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cary-cooper/people-who-tend-not-to-report-illness-are-people-who-are-highly/) Cary Cooper > [“Mental illness People assume you aren’t sick unless they see the sickness on your skin like scars forming a map of all the ways…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emm-roy/mental-illness-people-assume-you-aren-t-sick-unless-they-see-the/) Emm Roy > [For it is an absurdity to call a country civilized in which a decent and industrious man, laboriously mastering a trade which is valuble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/for-it-is-an-absurdity-to-call-a-country-civilized-in-which-a-decent/) [H. 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People complain about tax dollars and say we don't have the money.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nia-long/i-think-we-need-to-talk-about-mental-illness-a-lot-more-people/) [Nia Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nia-long/) > [This tendency to avoid problems and the emotional suffering inherent in them is the primary basis of all human mental illness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-r-swindoll/this-tendency-to-avoid-problems-and-the-emotional-suffering-inherent/) [Charles R. Swindoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-r-swindoll/) > [Death is in truth an illness from which we recover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/death-is-in-truth-an-illness-from-which-we-recover/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Telling a story of illness, one pulls a thread through a narrow opening flanked on one side by shame and the other by trivia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-griffin/telling-a-story-of-illness-one-pulls-a-thread-through-a-narrow/) [Susan Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-griffin/) ## More Illness quotes > [Telling a story of illness, one pulls a thread through a narrow opening flanked on one side by shame and the other by trivia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-griffin/telling-a-story-of-illness-one-pulls-a-thread-through-a-narrow/) [Susan Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-griffin/) > [Death is in truth an illness from which we recover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/death-is-in-truth-an-illness-from-which-we-recover/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [This tendency to avoid problems and the emotional suffering inherent in them is the primary basis of all human mental illness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-r-swindoll/this-tendency-to-avoid-problems-and-the-emotional-suffering-inherent/) [Charles R. Swindoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-r-swindoll/) > [I think we need to talk about mental illness a lot more. People complain about tax dollars and say we don't have the money.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nia-long/i-think-we-need-to-talk-about-mental-illness-a-lot-more-people/) [Nia Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nia-long/) > [I've always been interested in medicine and was pleased when my brother became a doctor. But after thinking seriously about that field, I realized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/i-ve-always-been-interested-in-medicine-and-was-pleased-when-my/) [Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/) > [“Mental illness is not something you misunderstand in this era. Get educated because bias is no different than racism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/mental-illness-is-not-something-you-misunderstand-in-this-era-get/) [Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) > [For it is an absurdity to call a country civilized in which a decent and industrious man, laboriously mastering a trade which is valuble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/for-it-is-an-absurdity-to-call-a-country-civilized-in-which-a-decent/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [My illness is one often characterized by dramatic overspending - in my case through frenzied shopping sprees, credit card abuse, excessive hoarding of unnecessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-behrman/my-illness-is-one-often-characterized-by-dramatic-overspending-in-my/) [Andy Behrman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-behrman/) > [Literature + Illness = Illness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/literature-illness-illness/) [Roberto Bolano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) > [Having an eating disorder doesn't show ‘strength.’ Strength is when are able to overcome your demons after being sick and tired for so long.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demi-lovato/having-an-eating-disorder-doesn-t-show-strength-strength-is-when-are/) [Demi Lovato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demi-lovato/) > [Sometimes, I get afraid it has defined me, that sense of grief, loss and illness. But actually, it is about allowing myself to take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sometimes-i-get-afraid-it-has-defined-me-that-sense-of-grief-loss-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It's more common than not that bipolar illness will start in the teens. One of the reasons I spend a lot of time on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-redfield-jamison/it-s-more-common-than-not-that-bipolar-illness-will-start-in-the/) [Kay Redfield Jamison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-redfield-jamison/) > [You cannot drive a system that's going to be aiming at preventing illness if everyone is not in it. The whole gaming of health…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-oz/you-cannot-drive-a-system-that-s-going-to-be-aiming-at-preventing/) [Mehmet Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-oz/) > [There are people with much bigger profiles than mine who are talking about mental illness. I am going to try to use whatever platform…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mauro-ranallo/there-are-people-with-much-bigger-profiles-than-mine-who-are-talking/) [Mauro Ranallo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mauro-ranallo/) > [Severe illness isolates those in close contact with it, because it inevitably narrows the focus of concern. To a certain extent this can lead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/severe-illness-isolates-those-in-close-contact-with-it-because-it/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) [Browse all 2,209 Illness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“And someone else wrote me, \"What I want is to know your own experience of illness.\" Why the interest? People on their ailments are not always interesting, far from it. 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