--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: PLEASE BELIEVE that I am falling apart. I…" description: "\"“PLEASE BELIEVE that I am falling apart. I am not speaking metaphorically; nor is this the opening gambit of some melodramatic, riddling, grubby appeal..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ff/salman-rushdie-153_falling-apart_please-believe-that-i-am-falling-apart-i_368585.jpg" --- # PLEASE BELIEVE that I am falling apart. I am not speaking… ![“PLEASE BELIEVE that I am falling apart. I am not speaking metaphorically; nor is this the opening gambit of some melodramatic, riddling, grubby appeal for pity. I mean quite simply that I have begun to crack all over like an old jug—that my poor body, singular, unlovely, buffeted by too much…” quote by Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ff/salman-rushdie-153_falling-apart_please-believe-that-i-am-falling-apart-i_368585.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ff/salman-rushdie-153_falling-apart_please-believe-that-i-am-falling-apart-i_368585.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ff/salman-rushdie-153_falling-apart_please-believe-that-i-am-falling-apart-i_368585.jpg) > ““PLEASE BELIEVE that I am falling apart. I am not speaking metaphorically; nor is this the opening gambit of some melodramatic, riddling, grubby appeal for pity. I mean quite simply that I have begun to crack all over like an old jug—that my poor body, singular, unlovely, buffeted by too much history, subjected to drainage above and drainage below, mutilated by doors, brained by spittoons, has started coming apart at the seams. In short, I am literally disintegrating, slowly for the moment, although there are signs of acceleration. I ask you only to accept (as I have accepted) that I shall eventually crumble into (approximately) six hundred and thirty million particles of anonymous, and necessarily oblivious, dust.”” [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator describes a profound personal breakdown, using vivid physical metaphors to convey existential decay and loss of identity. **In simple terms:** I am falling apart and becoming dust. Key Takeaway Accept impermanence and seek meaning beyond the self. Themes identity existence decay impermanence selfhood Mood melancholic reflective introspective Type literary philosophical existential When to use this quote - grief counseling - creative writing - therapy sessions - philosophical discussions Key Concepts existentialism metaphor mortality Questions to Reflect On - How do you confront the feeling of disintegrating self? - What can you preserve when everything seems to crumble? A Different Perspective The metaphor may obscure practical steps for coping with real health issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Believe Falling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe-falling-3367786/) [Coming Apart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coming-apart-334924/) [Disintegrating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disintegrating-238265/) [Disintegrating Slowly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disintegrating-slowly-3367785/) [Falling apart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/falling-apart/) ## Related quotes > [“PLEASE BELIEVE that I am falling apart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/please-believe-that-i-am-falling-apart/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I dont believe in falling in love quickly...unfortunately my heart doesnt care what I believe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j/i-dont-believe-in-falling-in-love-quickly-unfortunately-my-heart/) [J](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j/) > [Every time I get a role I think, 'I've actually fooled them again, I can't believe they keep falling for this!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-irvine/every-time-i-get-a-role-i-think-i-ve-actually-fooled-them-again-i-can/) [Jeremy Irvine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-irvine/) > [I am naive when it comes to love, you know what I mean? I do believe in falling in love at first sight and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonam-kapoor/i-am-naive-when-it-comes-to-love-you-know-what-i-mean-i-do-believe-in/) [Sonam Kapoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonam-kapoor/) > [I don't believe in falling in love today, getting married and if it doesn't work, you go your own way. It's not about that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shamita-shetty/i-don-t-believe-in-falling-in-love-today-getting-married-and-if-it/) [Shamita Shetty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shamita-shetty/) > [“oh do you remember when we were courting when my head lay upon your breast you could make me believe by the falling of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-joseph-adams/oh-do-you-remember-when-we-were-courting-when-my-head-lay-upon-your/) [John Joseph Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-joseph-adams/) > [New York was breaking my concentration and disintegrating my thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-murray/new-york-was-breaking-my-concentration-and-disintegrating-my-thoughts/) [George Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-murray/) > [“Traumas produce their disintegrating effects in proportion to their intensity, duration and repetition. (1909)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-janet/traumas-produce-their-disintegrating-effects-in-proportion-to-their/) [Pierre Janet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-janet/) > [To feel sorry for oneself is one of the most disintegrating things the individual can do to himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-rhoades/to-feel-sorry-for-oneself-is-one-of-the-most-disintegrating-things/) [Winifred Rhoades](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-rhoades/) > [“Disintegrating In 'Unprecedented”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/disintegrating-in-unprecedented/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [United States foreign policy, which includes national security, is literally disintegrating before our eyes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/united-states-foreign-policy-which-includes-national-security-is/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [Fundamental differing, pure intention juxtaposed, will set two lovers souls in motion, disintegrating as it goes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tool/fundamental-differing-pure-intention-juxtaposed-will-set-two-lovers/) [Tool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tool/) > [We cannot build a viable state with a country that is disintegrating into small pieces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahmoud-abbas/we-cannot-build-a-viable-state-with-a-country-that-is-disintegrating/) [Mahmoud Abbas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahmoud-abbas/) > [I'm what is known as gradually disintegrating. I don't fear the next world, or anything. I don't fear hell, and I don't look forward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katharine-hepburn/i-m-what-is-known-as-gradually-disintegrating-i-don-t-fear-the-next/) [Katharine Hepburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katharine-hepburn/) > [“Plans have a way of coming apart when you lean om 'em”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-abercrombie/plans-have-a-way-of-coming-apart-when-you-lean-om-em/) [Joe Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-abercrombie/) ## More by Salman Rushdie > [If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. I would see it as my failure as a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-my-child-had-prejudice-in-his-head-i-d-be-ashamed-i-would-see-it/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [It's a terrible thing that your life turns into a good story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/it-s-a-terrible-thing-that-your-life-turns-into-a-good-story/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [Sometimes by a woodland stream he watched the water rush over the pebbled bed, its tiny modulations of bounce and flow. A woman's body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/sometimes-by-a-woodland-stream-he-watched-the-water-rush-over-the/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I want to write novels. I want to write stories. I want to do the stuff that I became a writer to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-want-to-write-novels-i-want-to-write-stories-i-want-to-do-the-stuff/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [If you want to be a serious writer, then you have to write what there is to write about. If you're going to pull…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-you-want-to-be-a-serious-writer-then-you-have-to-write-what-there/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“Después de exigir mi marcha, ya no posees jurisdicción en lo concerniente a mi salud.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/despu-s-de-exigir-mi-marcha-ya-no-posees-jurisdicci-n-en-lo/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [If there is a choice between absolute safety and freedom, then freedom must always prevail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-there-is-a-choice-between-absolute-safety-and-freedom-then-freedom/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I'm not a prophet, but I always thought it was natural for dictatorships to fall. I remember in 1989, two months before the fall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-m-not-a-prophet-but-i-always-thought-it-was-natural-for/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I'd wanted to create a storm so that I could become more famous and richer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-d-wanted-to-create-a-storm-so-that-i-could-become-more-famous-and/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [Who what am I? My answer: I am the sum total of everything that went before me, of all I have been seen done,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/who-what-am-i-my-answer-i-am-the-sum-total-of-everything-that-went/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“...proving once again that there was no escape from recurrence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/proving-once-again-that-there-was-no-escape-from-recurrence/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“information, in a stream-of-consciousness soliloquy that revealed the extent to which he had internalised the adversarial fragmentation of American culture and made it a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/information-in-a-stream-of-consciousness-soliloquy-that-revealed-the/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [A little bit of one story joins onto an idea from another, and hey presto, . . . not old tales but new ones.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/a-little-bit-of-one-story-joins-onto-an-idea-from-another-and-hey/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I'm a novelist. Fortunately I don't have to rule the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-m-a-novelist-fortunately-i-don-t-have-to-rule-the-world/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [The First Amendment defends all forms of speech including hate speech, which is why groups like Ku Klux Klan are allowed to utter their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/the-first-amendment-defends-all-forms-of-speech-including-hate-speech/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) [Explore all 1,087 Salman Rushdie quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) ## More Falling apart quotes > [Shes talking to angels counting the stars, making a wish on a passing car dancing with strangers falling apart waiting for superman to pick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patience/shes-talking-to-angels-counting-the-stars-making-a-wish-on-a-passing/) [Patience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patience/) > [Sometimes when things seem to be falling apart, they are actually falling into place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sometimes-when-things-seem-to-be-falling-apart-they-are-actually/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There's always a race against time. I don't think for one moment that life gets better. How can it? One's body starts to fall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-grahame/there-s-always-a-race-against-time-i-don-t-think-for-one-moment-that/) [Gloria Grahame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-grahame/) > [The truth will form and fall apart again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-slean/the-truth-will-form-and-fall-apart-again/) [Sarah Slean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-slean/) > [If you're feeling pain, express that to the Lord. If you're feeling worried, express those worries. One passage that gives me comfort is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lucado/if-you-re-feeling-pain-express-that-to-the-lord-if-you-re-feeling/) [Max Lucado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lucado/) > [Or maybe a person is just made up of a lot of peopleMaybe we’re accumulating these new selves all the time. Hauling them in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jandy-nelson/or-maybe-a-person-is-just-made-up-of-a-lot-of-peoplemaybe-we-re/) [Jandy Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jandy-nelson/) > [We're not falling in love. We're just falling apart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-re-not-falling-in-love-we-re-just-falling-apart/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Where were you When everything was falling apart? All my days Were spent by the telephone That never rang And all I needed was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-fray/where-were-you-when-everything-was-falling-apart-all-my-days-were/) [The Fray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-fray/) > [Prayer keeps us together in a Nation that's falling apart... NIGERIA](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/efiosiugbore/prayer-keeps-us-together-in-a-nation-that-s-falling-apart-nigeria/) [@efiosiugbore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/efiosiugbore/) > [Russia can fall apart. It's not because of the oil prices ... It's because what sticks a country together is a common interest of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilya-ponomarev/russia-can-fall-apart-it-s-not-because-of-the-oil-prices-it-s-because/) [Ilya Ponomarev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilya-ponomarev/) > [It's a transformative experience to simply pause instead of immediately fill up the space. By waiting, we begin to connect with fundamental restlessness as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/it-s-a-transformative-experience-to-simply-pause-instead-of/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [You don't see heroism, humanity and hope like you do in a horror story. Horror celebrates the kind of friendship that keeps you standing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/you-don-t-see-heroism-humanity-and-hope-like-you-do-in-a-horror-story/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [I was full of a hot, powerful sadness and would have loved to burst into the comfort of tears, but tried hard not to,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/i-was-full-of-a-hot-powerful-sadness-and-would-have-loved-to-burst/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) > [There’s one thing that’s been 'learned' maybe from Tunisia and Egypt that I think is a mistake. And that is that the existing ruler…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-sharp/there-s-one-thing-that-s-been-learned-maybe-from-tunisia-and-egypt/) [Gene Sharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-sharp/) > [Once upon a time I was falling in love, but now I'm only falling apart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/once-upon-a-time-i-was-falling-in-love-but-now-i-m-only-falling-apart/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 918 Falling apart quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/falling-apart/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“PLEASE BELIEVE that I am falling apart. I am not speaking metaphorically; nor is this the opening gambit of some melodramatic, riddling, grubby appeal for pity. 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