Depression is the flaw in love. There's no such thing as love without the anticipation of loss. And that specter of despair can be the engine of intimacy.
Andrew SolomonRead
Though many schizophrenics become curiously attached to their delusions, the fading of the nondelusional world puts them in loneliness beyond all reckoning, a fixed residence on a noxious private planet they can never leave, and where they can receive no visitors.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the deep isolation experienced by individuals with schizophrenia, illustrating their struggle between delusions and reality.
Andrew Solomon's quote delves into the profound sense of isolation that many individuals with schizophrenia face. While they may develop attachments to their delusional world, it tragically secludes them from the reality around them, fostering an extreme loneliness that is often unrecognized by others. This 'noxious private planet' symbolizes their inward experience that is unreachable and unshareable, highlighting the urgency of understanding mental health issues and the essential need for connection.
Themes
SchizophreniaLonelinessIsolationDelusionsMental Health
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about mental health awareness at a community event, this quote can highlight the importance of empathy towards those suffering from schizophrenia.
More from Andrew Solomon
All quotes →I don't accept subtractive models of love, only additive ones. And I believe that in the same way we need species diversity to ensure that the planet can go on, so we need this diversity of affection and diversity of family in order to strengthen the ecosphere of kindness.
Andrew SolomonRead
While people argue with one another about the specifics of Freud's work and blame him for the prejudices of his time, they overlook the fundamental truth of his writing, his grand humility: that we frequently do not know our own motivations in life and are prisoners to what we cannot understand. We can recognize only a small fragment of our own, and an even smaller fragment of anyone else's, impetus.
Andrew SolomonRead
I believe that words are strong, that they can overwhelm what we fear when fear seems more awful than life is good.
Andrew SolomonRead
Then I repeated these words to my spirits: 'Leave me be; give me peace; and let me do the work of my life. I will never forget you.' Something about that incantation was particularly appealing to me. 'I will never forget you'-- as though one had to address the pride of the spirits, as though one wanted them to feel good about being exorcised.
Andrew SolomonRead
Some people are trapped by the belief that love comes in finite quantities, and that our kind of love exhausts the supply upon which they need to draw. I do not accept competitive models of love, only additive ones.
Andrew SolomonRead
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