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
Years of depression have robbed me of that—well, that give, that elasticity that everyone else calls perspective.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses how prolonged depression can diminish one's ability to see things from a balanced or hopeful viewpoint.
Elizabeth Wurtzel's quote reflects the struggle of living with depression, emphasizing that it can strip away a person's natural ability to maintain a positive perspective on life. This loss of 'give' and 'elasticity' suggests that the emotional burdens of depression can weigh heavily on an individual's capacity for optimism and resilience, making it difficult to navigate life's challenges and enjoy everyday experiences.
Themes
DepressionPerspectiveMental HealthResilienceEmotion
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a mental health awareness campaign to discuss the effects of depression.
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.
Elizabeth WurtzelRead
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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