An Assortment of Quotable Quotes

• "Pudge." She shook her head and sipped the cold coffee and wine. "Pudge, what you must understand about me is that I am a deeply unhappy person." – Alaska Young to Miles in Looking for Alaska by John Green.

• She thought all Janine's snivelling and repentance meant something, she thought Janine had been broken, she thought Janine was a true believer. But by that time Janine was like a puppy that's been kicked too often, by too many people, at random: she'd roll over for anyone, she'd tell anything, just for a moment of approbation. – The Handmaid's Tale

• "Shame is the sense of being singular" – Fitz Hugh Ludlow, The Heart of the Country

• 'You see, Dumbledore?' said Phineas Nigellus slyly `Never try to understand the students. They hate it. They would much rather be tragically misunderstood, wallow in self-pity, stew in their own -' Order of Phoenix

• "I been silent so long now it's gonna roar out of me like floodwaters and you think the guy telling this is ranting and raving my God; you think this is too horrible to have really happened, this is too awful to be the truth! But, please. It's still hard for me to have a clear mind thinking on it. But it's the truth even if it didn't happen." – Ken kesey, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

• "facts are facts, the world is the world, and we've got to live in it" – George du Maurier, Trilby

• "It was as unbelievable as the moon catching fire," Yann Martel in Life of Pi

• "Besides, now that he was quite alone, condemned, deserted, as those who are about to die are alone, there was a luxury in it, an isolation full of sublimity; a freedom which the attached can never know." – Septimus (Mrs Dalloway by Virgina Woolf)

• "'Good words,' I replied. 'But deeds must prove it also; and after he is well, remember you don't forget resolutions formed in the hour of fear.'" – Wuthering Heights

• "He refused to be moved, saying he needed the seclusion and the rural air to finish the book he was writing. If he went and mingled with the English in the streets and spent all his evenings in their pubs watching football on TV, he would lose the edge of his recollections and there would be no point to anything he had done." – By The Sea

• "We all desire to find out how we began, force the legs of memory open" Ariel Dorfman, headed south, looking north.

• "Sometimes paranoia's just having all the facts." William S. Burroughs

• "Truth is a matter of fitting words to the world." – Metaphors we live by

• "His heart beat faster as Daisy's white face came up to his own. He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God. So he waited, listening for a moment longer to the tuning-fork that had been struck upon a star. Then he kissed her. At his lips' touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete" – Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby

• "If you feel someone resents you because of expectations you've set for them – or you resent someone such as your boss or co-worker for expectations they've set for you – talk to them." – John Hoover

• "People of character do the hard work first. Then, as a result, they are ready for things to be easy for a long time." Dr Henry Cloud

• "But these nervous troubles are dreadfully depressing" – The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

• "Numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it" Albus Brian Wulfric Dumbledore (Goblet of Fire)

• "Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last;" – Proverbs 31: 30 (A Wife of Noble Character)

• "Don't let people hold you down." Sydney of The Internet (Purple Naked Ladies album)

• "The eyes of others our prisons; their thoughts our cages." - Virginia Woolf

• "I am a horse for a single harness, not cut out for a tandem or teamwork… for well I know that in order to attain any definite goal it is imperative that one person do the thinking and the commanding" – Albert Einstein

• "It's not that I'm so smart, it's that I stay with problems stronger" – Albert Einstein

• "I have naturally formed the habit of restraining my thoughts. A thoughtless word hardly ever escaped my tongue or pen. Experience has taught me that silence is part of the spiritual discipline of a votary of truth. We find so many people impatient to talk. All this talk can hardly be said to be of any benefit to the world. It is so much waste of time. My shyness has been in reality my shield and buckler. It has allowed me to grow. It has helped me in my discernment of truth." – Mahatma Gandhi

Conclusion

As organisms, we generally strive toward that which betters our existence. That is to say, we are driven towards pleasure rather than pain - the pleasure principle. This is basic Darwinism. Freud throws a wrench in things and complicates the matter a smidgeon. He proposes we have two drives - a death drive and a life drive - call it Thanatos and Eros if you must.

The life instincts, also known as "Eros," are focused on survival, reproduction, and pleasure. These instincts encourage behaviors that foster growth, connection, and the continuation of life. They include things like nurturing relationships, seeking food, and engaging in activities that promote well-being and happiness.

On the other hand, the death instincts, or "Thanatos," represent a more destructive aspect of human nature. Freud suggested that these instincts drive people towards aggression, risk-taking, and self-destructive behaviors. Rather than aiming for survival and growth, the death instincts are about reducing tension through destruction and ultimately returning to a state of inertia or calm. This concept is more abstract and complex, reflecting a drive towards the end of tension and the restoration of a more primitive, non-living state.

As humans we have to wrestle these drives while striving for sanity and happiness. What happens when the death drive wins over, but not quite enough to trigger suicide? My theory is that we get into the realm of self-harm. As the name suggests, self-harm is a behavior that involves physically harming oneself, though not suicidally. This might involve behaviors such as cutting, burning, hitting, or other forms of self-inflicted injury. People who self-harm often do so as a way to manage overwhelming emotions, express feelings they find hard to put into words, or feel a sense of control over their own bodies.

This life isn't worth living. It hurts too much and I want to end it all. I'm so suicidal but I'm such a kitty all I can do is cut myself, turning myself into a mutilated monster. I need the rope