30 quotes
Misunderstanding About Apartment Features
Daisy Randone
My dad got me an apartment.
Susanna Kaysen
Really? Where?
Daisy Randone
It's near the airport. One bedroom, two baths, eat-in chicken.
Susanna Kaysen
You mean eat-in kitchen.
Daisy Randone
That's what I said, asshole. So what do you have that I want?
Daisy Randone
Put them on the bed and get out.
Lisa Rowe
Put yours on the bed.
[from the door]
Daisy Randone
Oh, Jesus! Get out! GET OUT!
Lisa Rowe
Come on Dais, don't take advantage of her just because she's new. Pony up some Valium.
Daisy Randone
Get the fuck out of here or I'm calling Valerie! VALERIE!
Lisa Rowe
Yeah, why don't you call Valerie, shall we? Let's call Valerie and ask her for some Colace just like Suzie Q's got in her fuckin hand. Why does it stink in here?
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Understanding Sociopathy and Identity in Relationships
Lisa Rowe
We are very rare and we are mostly men.
Janet Webber
Lisa thinks she's hot shit cause she's a sociopath.
Cynthia Crowley
I'm a sociopath.
Lisa Rowe
No, you're a dyke.
Susanna Kaysen
Borderline Personality Disorder. An instability of self-image, relationships and moods... uncertainty about goals, impulsive in activities that are self-damaging, such as casual sex.
[reading from a book]
Lisa Rowe
I like that.
Susanna Kaysen
Social contrariness and a generally pessimistic attitude and often observed" Well, that's me.
Lisa Rowe
That's everybody.
Susanna Kaysen
I mean, what kind of sex isn't casual?
Janet Webber
They mean promiscuous.
Susanna Kaysen
I'm not promiscuous. I'm not.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Unexpected News of a Drafted Friend
Susanna Kaysen
Oh my God... a guy I know was drafted.
Janet Webber
What's his name?
Susanna Kaysen
Toby.
Janet Webber
He's dead now.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Struggles with Inner Pain and Isolation
Susanna Kaysen
I know what its like to want to die. How it hurts to smile. How you try to fit in, but you can't. How you hurt yourself on the outside, to try to kill the thing on the inside.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Paradox of Confession and Freedom
Georgina Tuskin
Lisa, is Daisy really getting out?
Lisa Rowe
Yeah, she coughed up a big one.
Susanna Kaysen
But how could - I mean she's... insane.
Lisa Rowe
Yeah, well that's what ther-rape-me's all about. That's why fuckin Freud's pictures on every shrink's wall. He created a fuckin industry. You lie down, you confess your secrets and you're saved. Ca-ching! The more you confess, the more they think about settin you free.
Susanna Kaysen
But what if you don't have a secret?
Lisa Rowe
Then you're a lifer, like me.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Desire for freedom from confinement
Susanna Kaysen
I've wasted a year of my life here. Maybe everyone out there is a liar. And maybe the whole world is stupid and ignorant. But I'd rather be in it. I'd rather be fucking in it, than down here with you.
[to Lisa]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Desire Amidst Doubt in Relationships
Susanna Kaysen
You don't want me.
Unnamed Groupie
Yes I do, baby.
Susanna Kaysen
No, you don't, I'm a crazy girl.
Unnamed Groupie
You're crazy so we can't have one night of bliss?
Susanna Kaysen
I am a crazy girl, seriously.
Unnamed Groupie
You've been in a hospital?
Susanna Kaysen
Yes.
Unnamed Groupie
Do you see purple people? My friend, he saw purple people. And so the state came and took him away. He didn't like that. Some time went by and, and he told em he didn't see purple people no more.
Susanna Kaysen
He got better.
Unnamed Groupie
Nah, he still sees em.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
A Final Taste of Freedom
Valerie
Did you enjoy the fresh air, Lisa?
Lisa
Yeah I did, Val. Thanks.
Valerie
Good, cause it's the last time you're leaving the ward.
Lisa
Is that a dare or a double dare?
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Playing the Villain in Friendship
Susanna Kaysen
What the fuck are you doing, Lisa?
Lisa Rowe
I'm playing the villain, baby, just like you want. I try to give you everything you want.
Susanna Kaysen
No you don't.
Lisa Rowe
You wanted your file, I found you your file. You wanted out, I got you out. You needed money, I found you some. I'm fucking consistent. I told you the truth. I didn't write it down in a fucking book! I told you to your face. And I told Daisy to her face - what everybody knew and wouldn't say, and she killed herself. And I played the fucking villain, just like you wanted.
Susanna Kaysen
Why would I want that?
Lisa Rowe
Because it makes you the good guy, sweet pea. You come back here, all sweetness and light, and sad and contrite, and everybody congratulating you on your bravery. And meanwhile, I'm blowing the guys at the bus station for the money that was in her fucking robe!
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Struggle for Connection and Recognition
Lisa Rowe
You know, there's too many buttons in the world. There's too many buttons and they're just - there's way too many just begging to be pressed, they're just begging to be pressed, you know? They're just - they're just begging to be pressed! And it makes me wonder, it really makes me fucking wonder, why doesn't anyone ever press mine? Why am I so neglected? Why doesn't anyone reach in and rip out the truth and tell me that I'm a fucking whore, or that my parents wish I were dead?
Susanna Kaysen
Because you're dead already, Lisa! No one cares if you die, Lisa, because you're dead already. Your heart is cold. That's why you keep coming back here. You're not free. You need this place to feel alive. It's pathetic.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Clothes and Coping Mechanisms in Confinement
Janet Webber
I want my fucking clothes!
Valerie Owens
Then you'll have to eat something, won't you?
Janet Webber
Oh Lordy, pick a bale o cotton / Oh Lordy, pick a bale o hay / Gotta jump down spin around pick a bale o cotton / Jump down spin sround pick a bale o hay.
[singing]
Valerie Owens
She thinks that bothers me.
[to Susanna]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Humor of Therapy Conversations
Lisa Rowe
So, have you had your first Melvin yet?
Susanna Kaysen
Who's that?
Lisa Rowe
Bald guy with a little pecker and a fat wife. You're ther-rapist, sweet pea. Unless, uh... unless they're giving you shocks. Or, God forbid, letting you out. Then you get to see the great, wonderful Dr. Dyke.
Nurse Margie
She means Dr. Wick.
Susanna Kaysen
Oh, I've been in his office, but I haven't met him yet.
M.G.
He's a she. Dr. Wick's a girl.
Lisa Rowe
That's right, M.G., Wick's a chick.
M.G.
Wick's a chick.
Lisa Rowe
Hence the nickname.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Confrontation of Reality and Perception in Recovery
Daisy Randone
You're just jealous, Lisa... because I got better... because I was released... because I have a chance... at a life.
Lisa Rowe
They didn't release you cause you're better, Daisy, they just gave up. You call this a life, hmm? Taking Daddy's money, buying your dollies and your knickknacks. And eating his fuckin chicken, fattening up like a prize fuckin heifer. You changed the scenery, but not the fuckin situation, and the warden makes housecalls. And everybody knows, everybody knows that he fucks you. What they don't know is that you like it, hmm? You like it.
Susanna Kaysen
Shut the fuck up!
[to Lisa]
Lisa Rowe
Hey, man, it's cool, it's okay. It's fine, it's fucking fine! A man is a dick is a man is a dick is a chicken... is a dad... a Valium, a speculum, whatever, whatever. You like being Mrs. Randone. Probably all you've ever known.
[to Daisy]
Daisy Randone
Have fun in Florida.
[goes upstairs to her room]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Reflections on Reality and Identity
Susanna Kaysen
Have you ever confused a dream with life? Or stolen something when you have the cash? Have you ever been blue? Or thought your train was moving while sitting still? Maybe I was just crazy. Maybe it was the 60's. Or maybe I was just a girl... interrupted.
[narrating]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Embracing Chaos and Freedom in Life
Lisa Rowe
Note that the poem is a quote from ]'s "Résumé" (1925)
[[Dorothy Parker]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Casual Interaction Among Characters
Lisa Rowe
Hey Margie!
Nurse Margie
Hey, Lisa!
Lisa Rowe
Watcha doin'?
Nurse Margie
Checks?
Lisa Rowe
How's Joe?
Nurse Margie
He's fine.
Lisa Rowe
Yeah...
Nurse Margie
Lisa, I have to do my checks!
Lisa Rowe
Yeah, and what? Taking five minutes for me would be a dereliction of duty?
Lisa Rowe
Huh? What if I had a punctured artery? What would you do? Would you just keep going about your rounds, ignoring my wounds?
Nurse Margie
Lisa, stop it!
Lisa Rowe
Stop what? You fucking piece-
Lisa Rowe
Look at this! Go ahead!
Nurse Margie
That's enough!
Lisa Rowe
Take one fuckin step and I'll jam this in my aorta! GO AHEAD!
Nurse Margie
Stop it!
Nurse Valerie Owens
Lisa...your aorta is in your chest.
Lisa Rowe
Good to know! I'll make a note of that...
Nurse Valerie Owens
Good.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
A Conversation About Engagement and Recovery
Nurse Margie
You're looking better, Lisa.
Lisa Rowe
Why, thanks Margie. So how's the engagement going?
Nurse Margie
You know.
Lisa Rowe
No, I don't know. I've been away.
Nurse Margie
Joe wants me to... you know, before the wedding.
Lisa Rowe
Fuck his brains out - use a rubber.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Illusion of Freedom and Mediocrity
Lisa Rowe
You think you're free? I'm free! You don't know what freedom is! I'm free! I can breathe! And you - you're gonna go choke on your average fuckin mediocre life!
[to Susanna]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Tension Between Friends in Confinement
Daisy Randone
Get out, Lisa!
Lisa Rowe
I'm not in your room, Daisy. I'm right fucking here. I was gonna offer you nail polish.
Daisy Randone
GET OUT!
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Questioning Identity and Diagnosis
Susanna Kaysen
Hello.
[picks up phone]
Lisa Rowe
So what's your diag-nonsense?
[on phone]
Susanna Kaysen
Who is this?
Lisa Rowe
What'd he say to Mom and Pop?
Susanna Kaysen
I have a Borderline Personality.
Lisa Rowe
Oh, well that's nothing. What else?
Susanna Kaysen
He didn't say. Thought it would affect my recovery.
Lisa Rowe
All right, listen. Tongue your meds tonight. After 1 o'clock checks, Gretta always goes out for a smoke. Check the mirrors and if they're clear, you go down to Hector's closet. It's near the art room and it will be open.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
A Casual Exchange Between Friends
Lisa Rowe
Hey, Torch.
Polly Clark
Hey, Lisa.
Lisa Rowe
Did you miss me?
Polly Clark
Not much.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Conflicting Perspectives on Coping Mechanisms
Dr. Crumble
Susanna, four days ago, you chased a bottle of aspirin with a bottle of vodka.
Susanna Kaysen
I had a headache.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Struggling to Understand Mental Illness
Valerie Owens
What would you have said to her?
[about Daisy]
Susanna Kaysen
I don't know. That I was sorry. That I will never know what it was like to be her. But I know what it's like to want to die. How it hurts to smile. How you try to fit in but you can't. You hurt yourself on the outside to try to kill the thing on the inside.
Valerie Owens
Susanna, it's all and well and good to tell me all this; but you gotta tell some of this to your doctors.
Susanna Kaysen
How the hell am I suppose to recover when I don't even understand my disease?
Valerie Owens
But you do understand it. You spoke very clearly about it a second ago. But I think what you gotta do is put it down. Put it away. Put it in your notebook, but get it out of yourself. Away so you can't curl up with it anymore.
Susanna Kaysen
Lisa thinks it's a gift. That it let's you see the truth.
Valerie Owens
Lisa's been here for eight years.
Susanna Kaysen
I'm so sorry. I was a bitch, I was a bitch.
[crying]
Valerie Owens
Do not drop anchor here, you understand?
Susanna Kaysen
When you don't want to feel, death seem like a dream. But seeing death, really seeing it, makes dreaming about it fucking ridiculous. Maybe, there's a moment growing up when something peels back... Maybe, maybe, we look for secrets because we can't believe our minds... All I know is that there's I began to feel things again. Whatever I was, I knew that there was only one way back to the world, and that was to use the place to talk. So I saw the great and wonderful Dr. Wick three times a week, and let her hear every thought in my head.
[narrating; overlapping words]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Reflections on Friendship and Life's Complexity
Susanna Kaysen
Was I ever crazy? Maybe. Or maybe life is... Crazy isn't being broken or swallowing a dark secret. It's you or me amplified. If you ever told a lie and enjoyed it. If you ever wished you could be a child forever. They were not perfect, but they were my friends and by the 70s, most of them were out living lives. Some I've seen, some never again, but there isn't a day my heart doesn't find them.
[narrating]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Encouraging Idleness Among Friends
Lisa Rowe
Hey Torch! Whatcha doin'?
Polly Clark
Nothing.
Lisa Rowe
Well, why don't you go to your room and do nothing?
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Confrontation of Identity and Self-Perception
Valerie Owens
You know, I can take a lot of crazy shit from a lot of crazy people. But you? You are not crazy.
Susanna Kaysen
Then what's wrong with me, huh? What the fuck is going on inside my head? Tell me, Dr. Val, what's your diag-nonsense?
Valerie Owens
You are a lazy, self-indulgent little girl who is driving herself crazy.
[hovering over Susanna]
Susanna Kaysen
Is that your... professional opinion, huh? Is that what you've learned in your advanced studies at night school for Negro Welfare Mothers? I mean, Melvin doesn't have a clue, Wick is a psycho, and you... you pretend to be a doctor. You sign the charts and dole out meds. But "you ain't no doctor, Miss Valerie. You ain't nothing but a black nursemaid.
Valerie Owens
And you're just throwing that away.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Cinderella Dreams at Disney Theme Park
Lisa Rowe
I am going to be the Cinderella at Walt Disney's new theme park, Susanna's gonna be Snow White. You can come if you want, you can be the Cocker Spaniel that eats spaghetti.
[to Daisy about going to Florida]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Conflict in a Confrontational Exchange
Lisa Rowe
Lady, back off!
Mrs. Gilcrest
Was I talking to you?
Lisa Rowe
No, you were spitting on me, so mellow fuckin out!
Mrs. Cilcrest
Don't you tell me what to do.
Lisa Rowe
Look, she gave your husband a rim job. Big fuckin deal! I'm sure he was begging for it, I heard it was like a pencil anyway.
Mrs. Gilcrest
Why you - how dare you!
Lisa Rowe
Some advice, okay? Just don't point you fuckin finger at crazy people!
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Struggles with Identity and Perception of Self
Janet Webber
That is not fair. That is not fair! That is not fair! Seventy-four is the perfect weight!
Lisa Rowe
Good luck, crazy bitch.
[to Daisy]
Instructor
Now what kind of a tree can you be, Janet, down there on the floor?
Janet Webber
I'm a fucking shrub, all right?
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Embracing Life Amidst Pain and Struggles
Lisa Rowe
Razors pain you, Rivers are damp / Acid stains you, Drugs cause cramps / Guns aren't lawful, Nooses give / Gas smells awful, Ya might as well live.
[Southern accent]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.