The biggest problem that women have is being ambivalent about their own power, ... We should be comfortable with the idea of wielding power. We shouldn't feel that it detracts from our femininity.
Elizabeth WurtzelRead
I guess I realize that I don't want to die. I don't want to live either, but-there really isn't anything in-between. Depression is about as close as you get to somewhere between dead and alive, and it's the worst. But since the tendency toward inertia means that it's easier for me to stay alive than die, I guess that's how it's going to be, so I guess I should try to be happy.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the struggle of living with depression, where the individual feels stuck between life and death but chooses to strive for happiness.
In this quote, Elizabeth Wurtzel articulates the deep conflict faced by those suffering from depression. She acknowledges a lack of desire to live fully while simultaneously expressing a fear of death, illustrating the painful ambivalence that characterizes depressive states. Wurtzel recognizes that this inertia, the tendency to remain in a state of despair, often outweighs the urge to end one's life, leading her to the conclusion that since she is alive, she should at least attempt to seek happiness, no matter how challenging that may be.
Themes
DepressionHappinessLifeDeathStruggleInertia
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech addressing mental health awareness, this quote can highlight the importance of recognizing and addressing depressive feelings.
More from Elizabeth Wurtzel
All quotes →The men have piled up in my past, have fallen trenchantly through my life, like an avalanche that doesn't mean to kill but is going to bury me alive just the same.
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Whenever I talk to anyone I care about, I am always seeking approval. There is always a pleading lilt in my voice that demands love. Even the people I work with, the ones I am supposed to have a professional relationship with, all business, get pulled into my need. I can't help it. I want to be adored.
Elizabeth WurtzelRead
Getting help for substance abuse can be reduced to the deceptively simple focus of ‘keeping away from the dope.’ But what does getting help with depression mean? Learning to keep away from your own mind?
Elizabeth WurtzelRead
Taking a hypersensitive approach to life had come to seem so much more pure and honest then joining the ranks of the numb masses who could let it all slide by. What I stopped realizing was that if you feel everything intensely, ultimately you feel nothing at all. Everything registers at the same decibel.
Elizabeth WurtzelRead
It's being a grown up, which I never figured out how to do, scrubbing the tub, and remembering to eat and shampoo my hair. It's the basics: I can write a whole book, but I cannot handle the basics.
Elizabeth WurtzelRead
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