--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Maybe I could use a little metal on the…" description: "\"“Maybe I could use a little metal on the inside, I thought. If I'd kept my heart better armored, where would I be now? Easy—I’d be at home, medicating ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/284/ransom-riggs-1816_day-by-day_maybe-i-could-use-a-little-metal-on-the_8153.jpg" --- # Maybe I could use a little metal on the inside, I thought… ![“Maybe I could use a little metal on the inside, I thought. If I'd kept my heart better armored, where would I be now? Easy—I’d be at home, medicating myself into a monotone. Drowning my sorrows in video games. Working shifts at Smart Aid. Dying inside, day by day, from regret.” quote by Ransom Riggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/284/ransom-riggs-1816_day-by-day_maybe-i-could-use-a-little-metal-on-the_8153.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/284/ransom-riggs-1816_day-by-day_maybe-i-could-use-a-little-metal-on-the_8153.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/284/ransom-riggs-1816_day-by-day_maybe-i-could-use-a-little-metal-on-the_8153.jpg) > ““Maybe I could use a little metal on the inside, I thought. If I'd kept my heart better armored, where would I be now? Easy—I’d be at home, medicating myself into a monotone. Drowning my sorrows in video games. Working shifts at Smart Aid. Dying inside, day by day, from regret.”” [Ransom Riggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ransom-riggs/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker reflects on emotional neglect, imagining that a hardened heart could have prevented a stagnant, regret‑filled life of escapism and self‑medication. **In simple terms:** Regret from emotional armor Key Takeaway Emotional walls can trap you Themes Regret Self‑medication Escapism Emotional armor Life choices Mood Melancholy Reflective Type Personal confession Philosophical reflection When to use this quote - Feeling stuck in a routine - Using video games to avoid feelings - Working low‑skill jobs to survive - Self‑medicating with monotony Key Concepts Emotional health Coping mechanisms Personal responsibility Practical Applications - Therapeutic journaling - Developing emotional resilience Questions to Reflect On - What would happen if you let vulnerability in? - How does emotional armor affect your choices? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Day by day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/day-by-day/) [Dying inside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dying-inside/) [Games](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/games/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Problem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problem/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Regret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/regret/) [Sorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorrow/) [Video games](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/video-games/) ## Related quotes > [Metallica is a very complicated, fragile thing. 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"We are saved.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ransom-riggs/oh-thank-heavens-someone-remembered-the-bath-mat-enoch-deadpanned-we/) [Ransom Riggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ransom-riggs/) > [“You tread a precariously thin line between being charmingly headstrong and insufferably pigheaded.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ransom-riggs/you-tread-a-precariously-thin-line-between-being-charmingly/) [Ransom Riggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ransom-riggs/) > [“I did love her, of course, but mostly because loving your mom is mandatory, not because she was someone I think I'd like very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ransom-riggs/i-did-love-her-of-course-but-mostly-because-loving-your-mom-is/) [Ransom Riggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ransom-riggs/) > [“ ‘You don’t strike me as a quitter.’ ‘Then you don’t know me very well,’ I replied.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ransom-riggs/you-don-t-strike-me-as-a-quitter-then-you-don-t-know-me-very-well-i/) [Ransom Riggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ransom-riggs/) > [“I came to enjoy communicating by hand. There was something sweet about holding a tangible thing that had been touched and marked upon by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ransom-riggs/i-came-to-enjoy-communicating-by-hand-there-was-something-sweet-about/) [Ransom Riggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ransom-riggs/) > [“Bombs are falling and we're reading stories, I thought. I have entered the realm of the insane. -Jacob”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ransom-riggs/bombs-are-falling-and-we-re-reading-stories-i-thought-i-have-entered/) [Ransom Riggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ransom-riggs/) > [“Yo no sabía como llamar a aquello que sucedía entre nosotros, pero me gustaba. Me proporcionaba una sensación estúpida, frágil y agradable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ransom-riggs/yo-no-sab-a-como-llamar-a-aquello-que-suced-a-entre-nosotros-pero-me/) [Ransom Riggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ransom-riggs/) > [“I think they worried that my grandfather would infect me with some incurable dreaminess from which I’d never recover – that these fantasies were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ransom-riggs/i-think-they-worried-that-my-grandfather-would-infect-me-with-some/) [Ransom Riggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ransom-riggs/) > [Stars, too, were time travelers. How many of these ancient points of light were the last echoes of suns now dead? 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