Chemistry Quotes

We've searched our database for all the quotes and captions related to Chemistry. Here they are! All 100 of them:

The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.
C.G. Jung
We are told that people stay in love because of chemistry, or because they remain intrigued with each other, because of many kindnesses, because of luck. But part of it has got to be forgiveness and gratefulness.
Ellen Goodman
You’re dangerous,” he says. “Why?” “Because you make me believe in the impossible
Simone Elkeles (Rules of Attraction (Perfect Chemistry, #2))
You are the one girl that made me risk eveything for a future worth having.
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
We're actors in our lives, pretendin' to be who we want people to think we are.
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
I just thought to my self, all of a sudden, that we had something in common. A natural chemistry, if you will. And I had a feeling that something big was going to happen. To both of us. That we were, in fact, meant to be together.
Sarah Dessen (This Lullaby)
I want to try making things right because picking up the pieces is way better than leaving them the way they are.
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
I want to know how to make this girl laugh. I want to know what makes her cry. I want to know what it feels like to have her look at me as if I’m her knight in shinning armor.
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
If there's one thing I learned, it's that nobody is here forever. You have to live for the moment, each and every day . . . the here, the now.
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
Fifty percent of all doctors graduate in the bottom half of their class - Hope your surgery went well!
Simone Elkeles (Rules of Attraction (Perfect Chemistry, #2))
One of the things that makes me who I am is the loyalty I have to people I hold close to my heart.
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
But wishes are only granted in fairy tales.
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
No, this trick won't work... How on earth are you ever going to explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love?
Albert Einstein
What we call our destiny is truly our character and that character can be altered. The knowledge that we are responsible for our actions and attitudes does not need to be discouraging, because it also means that we are free to change this destiny. One is not in bondage to the past, which has shaped our feelings, to race, inheritance, background. All this can be altered if we have the courage to examine how it formed us. We can alter the chemistry provided we have the courage to dissect the elements.
Anaïs Nin (The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1: 1931-1934)
Brit: What's your major? Alex: Chemistry. And yours? Brit: Chemistry. Kiss me so we can see if we still have it. 'Cause you own my heart, my soul, and everything else in between.
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
Chemistry is you touching my arm and it setting fire to my mind" Nayyirah Waheed
Nayyirah Waheed
I'm losing control."-Brittany Mamacita, I've already lost it."-Alex
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
This is a team of gay dudes, isn't it?" What gave it away? The pink shirts, or half our team drooling over you?
Simone Elkeles (Rules of Attraction (Perfect Chemistry, #2))
Relationships never provide you with everything. They provide you with some things. You take all you want from a person - sexual chemistry, let's say, or good conversation, or financial support, or intellectual compatibility, or niceness, or loyalty - and you get to pick three of them.
Hanya Yanagihara (A Little Life)
Recognize that the very molecules that make up your body, the atoms that construct the molecules, are traceable to the crucibles that were once the centers of high mass stars that exploded their chemically rich guts into the galaxy, enriching pristine gas clouds with the chemistry of life. So that we are all connected to each other biologically, to the earth chemically and to the rest of the universe atomically. That’s kinda cool! That makes me smile and I actually feel quite large at the end of that. It’s not that we are better than the universe, we are part of the universe. We are in the universe and the universe is in us.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
I wish I could help you" I whisper. You are," he murmurs against my knee. "just dont leave me, okay? Everyone leaves me.
Simone Elkeles (Rules of Attraction (Perfect Chemistry, #2))
We kiss all the time." I clear my throat, then add, "We just...do it in private." "A smug expression crosses his face. "I don't buy it for a second, 'cause if you were my girlfriend and a stud like me was livin' in your house, I'd kiss you in front of the guy every chance I got as a reminder." "A reminder of w-w-what?" "That you were mine.
Simone Elkeles (Rules of Attraction (Perfect Chemistry, #2))
You once said you loved me. Do you still?" My sister is watching this exchange between us. She smiles warmly at me, giving me the strength to tell him the truth. "I never stopped loving you. Even when I tried desperately to forget you. I couldn't.
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
It's a mystery of human chemistry and I don't understand it, some people, as far as their senses are concerned, just feel like home.
Nick Hornby (High Fidelity)
Look at me, chica." When she does, I repeat, "Eres hermosa." "What does it mean?" "You're beautiful.
Simone Elkeles (Rules of Attraction (Perfect Chemistry, #2))
I want to tell her how much she's become the center of my being. But I can't. The words won't come.
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
If I had any choice in the matter, I'd stay in my comfy bed and eat warm chocolate chip cookies all day.
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
I can't help but smile as I swipe a lone tear trailing down my cheek. How can I not be crazy in love with this guy? Time away from him didn't change anything. I can't deny him another chance. That would be denying myself.
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
If no words come, you can always give him the finger.
Simone Elkeles (Rules of Attraction (Perfect Chemistry, #2))
Makin' mistakes ain't a crime, you know. What's the use of having a reputation if you can't ruin it every now and then?
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
He may be out of my life physically, but he'll always be a part of me. I can't let go even if I wanted to.
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
This connection we have isn't going away, it's only getting stronger. Because the more I spend time with her, the closer I want to be.
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
Sweat isn't a bad thing," he said, leaning his head against the wall thoughtfully. "Some of the best things in life happen while your sweating. Yeah, if you get too much of it and it gets old and stale, it turns pretty gross. But on a beautiful women? Intoxicating. If you could smell things like a vampire does, you'd know what I'm talking about. Most people mess it all up and drown themselves in perfume. Perfume can be good...especially if you get one that goes with your chemistry. But you only need a hint. Mix about 20 percent of that with 80 percent of your own perspiration...mmm." He tilted his head to the side and looked at me. "Dead sexy.
Richelle Mead (Frostbite (Vampire Academy, #2))
I never stopped loving you. Even when I tried desperately to forget you, I couldn't.
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
Tonight was... well, it was perfect for me too. You've turned my world upside down. I've fallen in love with you, chica, and it scares the fuckin' shit outta me. I've been shakin' all night, because I knew it.I've tried to deny it, to make you think I wanted you as a fake girlfriend, but that was a lie.
Simone Elkeles (Rules of Attraction (Perfect Chemistry, #2))
Opening yourself up to making mistakes and being vulnerable is what makes it beautiful and special with the person you love.
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
I understand the reasons behind his keeping a distance from a girl he cares about. Because the truth is, sometimes getting close to the fire does actually burn you.
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
[Life]It is what you make it. If you think you can't change the world, then go on and follow the path already carved out for you. But there are other roads to choose, they're just harder to trudge through. Changing the world is'nt easy, but I sure as hell am going to keep trying. Are you?
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
I'm in deep shit Alex, 'cause I think I'd like nothin' better than to wake up with her every mornin'.
Simone Elkeles (Rules of Attraction (Perfect Chemistry, #2))
I don't deserve you. You know that, querida, don't you? (Alex)
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
There's a thin line between love and hate. Maybe you're confusing your emotions.
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
I believe with all my heart that the cliches are true, that we are our own best friends and best company, and that if you're not right for yourself, it's impossible to be right for anyone.
Rachel Machacek (The Science of Single: One Woman's Grand Experiment in Modern Dating, Creating Chemistry, and Finding Love)
Hey, Carlos," the Professor says when he walks in. "How was REACH?" "It sucked." "Can you be more specific?" my guardian asks. "It really sucked," I elaborate, sarcasm dripping from every word.
Simone Elkeles (Rules of Attraction (Perfect Chemistry, #2))
The reason I want you to put a shirt on is, well, because, um..." "You've never seen a guy with his shirt off?" "Ha, ha. Very funny. Believe me, you don't have anything I haven't seen before." "Wanna bet?" he says, then moves his hands to the button on his jeans and pops it open. Isabel walks in at that exact moment. "Whoa, Alex. Please keep your pants on.
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
Tofu tacos are not Mexican. I think putting tofu on anything and calling it Mexican is an insult to my people.
Simone Elkeles (Rules of Attraction (Perfect Chemistry, #2))
Music is my drug, the one thing that makes me numb.
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
NO PDA,school rules. And besides she's my partner dickhead." said Alex.
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
La cucaracha, La cucaracha, Ya no puede caminar, porque no tiene, porque le falta, I don't know the rest, la la la la!
Simone Elkeles (Rules of Attraction (Perfect Chemistry, #2))
Please, amigo. We need you, Kimosabe, O Mighty Powerful One. We need you more than the earth rises in the west." The sun rises in the east, dickhead." Only if you're standing on the earth. If you're on the moon, the earth rises in the west.
Simone Elkeles (Rules of Attraction (Perfect Chemistry, #2))
Nobody really knows her Except the chosen few Her secrets are kept hidden Behind that sun-kissed hue. If I reach out to touch her She’ll just run away My Forever and Always Will have to wait another day.
Simone Elkeles (Chain Reaction (Perfect Chemistry, #3))
Playing with fire doesn't necessarily get you burned.
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
He’s my brother, my blood. He annoys the hell out of me most of the time, but when it comes right down to it I want to see him graduate from college and have little annoying mini-Alexes and mini-Brittanys running around in the future
Simone Elkeles (Rules of Attraction (Perfect Chemistry, #2))
Miss Ellis?" Mrs. Perterson says. "It's your turn. Introduce Alex to the class" "This is Alejandro Fuentes. When he wasn't hanging out on street corners and harrassing innocent people this summer, he toured the inside of jails around the city, if you know what i mean. His secret desire is to go to college and become a chemistry teacher, like you Mrs. Peterson." Brittney flashed me a triumpnet smile, thinking she won this round. Guess again, gringa. "This is Brittney Ellis," I say, all eyes focused on me. "This summer she went to the mall, bought new clothes to extend her wardrobe, and spent her daddy's money on plastic surgery to enhance her, ahem, assets. Her secret desire is to date a Mexicano before she graduates." Game on...
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
With someone you like that much, the lows are as low as the highs are high. Does that make sense?' It does. It also makes me sound bipolar.' Love will do that to a person.
Simone Elkeles
Was Paco in here?
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
Sometimes I think," she said slowly, "that if a man were to spend a day being a woman in America, he wouldn't make it past noon.
Bonnie Garmus (Lessons in Chemistry)
Dont ruin my balls!" She laughs as the words leave her mouth. Better yours than mine, chica." I toss the dough balls at her, one by one, until I've got none left.
Simone Elkeles (Rules of Attraction (Perfect Chemistry, #2))
You know about fixing cars, you're athletic, and you know when to shut up." "That last one isn't a skill." "Honey, trust me. It's a skill.
Simone Elkeles (Rules of Attraction (Perfect Chemistry, #2))
There had been a time when words had been the only place he could find solace. No book ever lost patience with him or told him to sit still. When his tutors had thrown up their hands in frustration, it was the library that had taught Nikolai military history, strategy, chemistry, astronomy. Each spine had been an open door away whispering, Come in, come in. Here is the land you’ve never seen before. Here is a place to hide when you’re frightened, to play when you’re bored, to rest when the world seems unkind.
Leigh Bardugo (King of Scars (King of Scars, #1))
Consider me your candy stripper... I mean striper.
Simone Elkeles (Rules of Attraction (Perfect Chemistry, #2))
Your days are numbered. Use them to throw open the windows of your soul to the sun,
Bonnie Garmus (Lessons in Chemistry)
And while my mind is telling me I'm flirting with her just to prove a point, my body wants to play "you show me your perky privates and I'll show you mine.
Simone Elkeles (Rules of Attraction (Perfect Chemistry, #2))
Whether it's right or wrong, fight for what you believe in.
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
It'll be impossible to protect Brittany for the rest of her life from all the other guys who want to be near her, to see her as I've seen her. Touch her as I've touch her. Man, I never want to let her go.
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
Okay, seriously, I dont know if this is true or not, but I heard people who use profanity are trying to compensate for their lack of you know... size" -Tuck
Simone Elkeles (Rules of Attraction (Perfect Chemistry, #2))
Unfortunately, I can’t run from my heart. It hurts, deep inside my body. And I know I’ll never be the same.
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
I hate games I can't win.
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
dear kiara, The women in the shop told me that yellow rose represents friendship and red rose shows love. And the rosery is the only thing i own that i care for, its yours i'm yours C
Simone Elkeles (Rules of Attraction (Perfect Chemistry, #2))
I wonder if it's medically possible to be addicted to another human being.
Simone Elkeles
Relationships never provide you with everything. They provide you with some things. You take all the things you want from a person -- sexual chemistry, let's say, or good conversation, or financial support, or intellectual compatibility, or niceness, or loyalty -- and you get to pick three of those things. The rest you have to look for elsewhere. It's only in the movies that you find someone who gives you all those things. But this isn't the movies. In the real world, you have to identify which three qualities you want to spend the rest of your life with, and then you look for those qualities in another person. That's real life. Don't you see it's a trap? If you keep trying to find everything, you'll wind up with nothing.
Hanya Yanagihara (A Little Life)
You're where I want to be.
Simone Elkeles (Rules of Attraction (Perfect Chemistry, #2))
Problem is, the bathroom pass can't help you escape life. It's still there when you come out. Problems and crap don't go away hiding in the can.
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
I believe in lust at first sight.And attraction.But not love.
Simone Elkeles (Rules of Attraction (Perfect Chemistry, #2))
Don't they give you happy pills in this place?
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
But I know loving someone means losing a part of myself.
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
It's pure instinct that makes me rebel every time someone tries to control my life and hand out more rules.
Simone Elkeles (Rules of Attraction (Perfect Chemistry, #2))
Mujer, you own my soul.
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
I find myself daydreaming about him when I wake up in the morning, in school when something reminds me of him, and when I fall asleep at night
Simone Elkeles (Rules of Attraction (Perfect Chemistry, #2))
What is this?' 'A Smart Car' It looked like an SUV took a dump and out came the Smart Car
Simone Elkeles (Rules of Attraction (Perfect Chemistry, #2))
-You think I’ve got a big ego and an attitude problem? -I don’t think you do, Carlos. I know it. Unfortunately, it’s a Fuentes flaw. -I’d call it an asset. It’s what makes us Fuentes brothers irresistible. Carlos and Brittany
Simone Elkeles (Rules of Attraction (Perfect Chemistry, #2))
Whenever you feel afraid, just remember. Courage is the root of change - and change is what we're chemically designed to do. So when you wake up tomorrow, make this pledge. No more holding yourself back. No more subscribing to others' opinions of what you can and cannot achieve. And no more allowing anyone to pigeonhole you into useless categories of sex, race, economic status, and religion. Do not allow your talents to lie dormant, ladies. Design your own future. When you go home today, ask yourself what YOU will change. And then get started.
Bonnie Garmus (Lessons in Chemistry)
Do you play football?' Brandon asks. 'No.' 'Baseball?' 'Nope.' Brandon is on a roll and won't stop until he's found the answer he's looking for. 'Tennis?' 'That would be a nada' 'Then what sport do you play?' Carlos puts down his food. Oh, no. He's got a rebellious gleam in his eye as he says, 'The horizontal tango.' ...Alex stands and says through chlenched teeth, 'Carlos let's talk. In private. Ahora.' ....Brandon turns to my dad with big, innocent eyes. 'Daddy, do you know how to do the horizontal tango?
Simone Elkeles (Rules of Attraction (Perfect Chemistry, #2))
It was the face of spring, it was the face of summer, it was the warmness of clover breath. Pomegranate glowed in her lips, and the noon sky in her eyes. To touch her face was that always new experience of opening your window one December morning, early, and putting out your hand to the first white cool powdering of snow that had come, silently, with no announcement, in the night. And all of this, this breath-warmness and plum-tenderness was held forever in one miracle of photographic is chemistry which no clock winds could blow upon to change one hour or one second; this fine first cool white snow would never melt, but live a thousand summers.
Ray Bradbury (Dandelion Wine)
Dr. Watson's summary list of Sherlock Holmes's strengths and weaknesses: "1. Knowledge of Literature: Nil. 2. Knowledge of Philosophy: Nil. 3. Knowledge of Astronomy: Nil. 4. Knowledge of Politics: Feeble. 5. Knowledge of Botany: Variable. Well up in belladonna, opium, and poisons generally. Knows nothing of practical gardening. 6. Knowledge of Geology: Practical but limited. Tells at a glance different soils from each other. After walks has shown me splashes upon his trousers, and told me by their colour and consistence in what part of London he had received them. 7. Knowledge of Chemistry: Profound. 8. Knowledge of Anatomy: Accurate but unsystematic. 9. Knowledge of Sensational Literature: Immense. He appears to know every detail of every horror perpetrated in the century. 10. Plays the violin well. 11. Is an expert singlestick player, boxer, and swordsman. 12. Has a good practical knowledge of British law.
Arthur Conan Doyle (A Study in Scarlet (Sherlock Holmes, #1))
He has eyes so expressive they give a hint to more than what he portrays. He’s dedicated to his friends, family, and even his motorcyle. He touched me as if I were made of glass. He kissed me as if he’d savor it for the rest of his life.
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
Let me tell you, you either have chemistry or you don't, and you better have it, or it's like kissing some relative. But chemistry, listen to me, you got to be careful. Chemistry is like those perfume ads, the ones that look so interesting and mysterious but you dont even know at first what they're even selling. Or those menues without the prices. Mystery and intrigue are gonna cost you. Great looking might mean something ve-ry expensive, and I don't mean money. What I'm saying is, chemistry is a place to start, not an end point.
Deb Caletti (The Secret Life of Prince Charming)
Lately I can't help wanting us to be like other people. For example, if I were a smoker, you'd lift a match to the cigarette just as I put it between my lips. It's never been like that between us: none of that easy chemistry, no quick, half automatic flares. Everything between us had to be learned. Saturday finds me brooding behind my book, all my fantasies of seduction run up against the rocks. Tell me again why you don't like sex in the afternoon? No, don't tell me-- I'll never understand you never understand us, America's strangest loving couple: they never drink a bottle of wine together and rarely look at each other. Into each other's eyes, I mean.
Deborah Garrison (A Working Girl Can't Win)
I imagine John Watson thinks love’s a mystery to me, but the chemistry is incredibly simple and very destructive. When we first met, you told me that a disguise is always a self portrait, how true of you, the combination to your safe – your measurements. But this is far more intimate. This is your heart, and you should never let it rule your head. You could have chosen any random number and walked out of here today with everything you worked for. But you just couldn’t resist it, could you? I’ve always assumed that love is a dangerous disadvantage. Thank you for the final proof.
Mark Gatiss
Marry me, Kiara,” he blurts out in front of everyone. “Why?” she asks, challenging him. “Because I love you,” he says, walking up to her and bending down on one knee while he takes her hand in his, “and I want to go to sleep with you every night and wake up seein’ your face every mornin’, I want you to be the mother of my children, I want to fix cars with you and eat your crappy tofu tacos that you think are Mexican. I want to climb mountains with you and be challenged by you, I want to argue with you just so we can have crazy hot makeup sex. Marry me, because without you I’d be six feet under … and because I love your family like they’re my own … and because you’re my best friend and I want to grow old with you.” He starts tearing up, and it’s shocking because I’ve never seen him cry. “Marry me, Kiara Westford, because when I got shot the only thing I was thinkin’ about was comin’ back here and makin’ you my wife. Say yes, chica.
Simone Elkeles (Chain Reaction (Perfect Chemistry, #3))
(On religion) "I think it lets us off the hook. I think it teaches us that nothing is really our fault; that something or someone else is pulling the strings; the ultimately, we're not to blame for the way things are; that to improve things, we should pray. But the truth is, we are very much responsible for the badness in the world. And we have the power to fix it.
Bonnie Garmus (Lessons in Chemistry)
A poet once said, 'The whole universe is in a glass of wine.' We will probably never know in what sense he meant it, for poets do not write to be understood. But it is true that if we look at a glass of wine closely enough we see the entire universe. There are the things of physics: the twisting liquid which evaporates depending on the wind and weather, the reflection in the glass; and our imagination adds atoms. The glass is a distillation of the earth's rocks, and in its composition we see the secrets of the universe's age, and the evolution of stars. What strange array of chemicals are in the wine? How did they come to be? There are the ferments, the enzymes, the substrates, and the products. There in wine is found the great generalization; all life is fermentation. Nobody can discover the chemistry of wine without discovering, as did Louis Pasteur, the cause of much disease. How vivid is the claret, pressing its existence into the consciousness that watches it! If our small minds, for some convenience, divide this glass of wine, this universe, into parts -- physics, biology, geology, astronomy, psychology, and so on -- remember that nature does not know it! So let us put it all back together, not forgetting ultimately what it is for. Let it give us one more final pleasure; drink it and forget it all!
Richard P. Feynman
I turn around and wrap my arms around his neck. "Whoa, girl," he says taken aback. "I thought we were keepin' this thing between us a secret. I hate to tell you, but a bunch of north siders from Fairfield are right over there. And they're starin' at us" "I don't care. Not anymore" "Why" "You only live once
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside of the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of conditions. Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies’ straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping god may wake someday and take offense, or the waking god may draw us out to where we can never return.
Annie Dillard
The current ruling ontology denies any possibility of a social causation of mental illness. The chemico-biologization of mental illness is of course strictly commensurate with its depoliticization. Considering mental illness an individual chemico-biological problem has enormous benefits for capitalism. First, it reinforces Capital’s drive towards atomistic individualization (you are sick because of your brain chemistry). Second, it provides an enormously lucrative market in which multinational pharmaceutical companies can peddle their pharmaceuticals (we can cure you with our SSRIs). It goes without saying that all mental illnesses are neurologically instantiated, but this says nothing about their causation. If it is true, for instance, that depression is constituted by low serotonin levels, what still needs to be explained is why particular individuals have low levels of serotonin. This requires a social and political explanation; and the task of repoliticizing mental illness is an urgent one if the left wants to challenge capitalist realism.
Mark Fisher (Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?)
Some people think mental illness is a matter of mood, a matter of personality. They think depression is simply a form of being sad, that OCD is a form of being uptight. They think the soul is sick, not the body. It is, they believe, something that you have some choice over. I know how wrong this is. When I was a child, I didn't understand. I would wake up in a new body and wouldn't comprehend why things felt muted, dimmer. Or the opposite--I'd be supercharged, unfocused, like a radio at top volume flipping quickly from station to station. Since I didn't have access to the body's emotions, I assumed the ones I was feeling were my own. Eventually, though, I realized these inclinations, these compulsions, were as much a part of the body as its eye color or its voice. Yes, the feelings themselves were intangible, amorphous, but the cause of the feelings was a matter of chemistry, biology. It is a hard cycle to conquer. The body is working against you. And because of this, you feel even more despair. Which only amplifies the imbalance. It takes uncommon strength to live with these things. But I have seen that strength over and over again.
David Levithan (Every Day (Every Day, #1))
Want to make out?” “With who?” she asks, not bothering to look up. “Me.” She lifts her head from her book just long enough to give me a once-over. “No, thanks,” she says, then goes back to her homework. She’s fuckin’ with me. She’s got to be fuckin’ with me, right? “Because of that pendejo Tuck?” “No. Because I don’t want Madison’s leftovers.” Wait. Un. Momento. I’ve been called a lot of things before, but . . . “You callin’ me leftovers?” “Yeah. Besides, Tuck is a great kisser. I wouldn’t want you to feel bad when there’s no way you can compete.” That guy hardly owns a pair of lips. “Wanna bet?
Simone Elkeles (Rules of Attraction (Perfect Chemistry, #2))
Normal? I'm not normal enough for you?" Carlos says. "You want this guy instead? Did you notice his hair doesn't move? That's not normal. You want to date him again, go ahead. Hell, if you want to marry him and be Kiara Barra the rest of your life, be my guest." "That's not want I--" "I don't want to hear it. Hasta," Carlos says, ignoring me and walking away. I feel my face heat in embarrassment as I look at Michael. "Sorry. Carlos can he abrasive sometimes." "Don't apologize. The guy obviously has major issues and, for the record, my hair moves... when I want it to.
Simone Elkeles (Rules of Attraction (Perfect Chemistry, #2))
All depression has its roots in self-pity, and all self-pity is rooted in people taking themselves too seriously.” At the time Switters had disputed her assertion. Even at seventeen, he was aware that depression could have chemical causes. “The key word here is roots,” Maestra had countered. “The roots of depression. For most people, self-awareness and self-pity blossom simultaneously in early adolescence. It's about that time that we start viewing the world as something other than a whoop-de-doo playground, we start to experience personally how threatening it can be, how cruel and unjust. At the very moment when we become, for the first time, both introspective and socially conscientious, we receive the bad news that the world, by and large, doesn't give a rat's ass. Even an old tomato like me can recall how painful, scary, and disillusioning that realization was. So, there's a tendency, then, to slip into rage and self-pity, which if indulged, can fester into bouts of depression.” “Yeah but Maestra—” “Don't interrupt. Now, unless someone stronger and wiser—a friend, a parent, a novelist, filmmaker, teacher, or musician—can josh us out of it, can elevate us and show us how petty and pompous and monumentally useless it is to take ourselves so seriously, then depression can become a habit, which, in tern, can produce a neurological imprint. Are you with me? Gradually, our brain chemistry becomes conditioned to react to negative stimuli in a particular, predictable way. One thing'll go wrong and it'll automatically switch on its blender and mix us that black cocktail, the ol’ doomsday daiquiri, and before we know it, we’re soused to the gills from the inside out. Once depression has become electrochemically integrated, it can be extremely difficult to philosophically or psychologically override it; by then it's playing by physical rules, a whole different ball game. That's why, Switters my dearest, every time you've shown signs of feeling sorry for yourself, I've played my blues records really loud or read to you from The Horse’s Mouth. And that’s why when you’ve exhibited the slightest tendency toward self-importance, I’ve reminded you that you and me— you and I: excuse me—may be every bit as important as the President or the pope or the biggest prime-time icon in Hollywood, but none of us is much more than a pimple on the ass-end of creation, so let’s not get carried away with ourselves. Preventive medicine, boy. It’s preventive medicine.” “But what about self-esteem?” “Heh! Self-esteem is for sissies. Accept that you’re a pimple and try to keep a lively sense of humor about it. That way lies grace—and maybe even glory.
Tom Robbins (Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates)
Adrian looked over at me again. “Who knows more about male weakness: you or me?” “Go on.” I refused to directly answer the question. “Get a new dress. One that shows a lot of skin. Short. Strapless. Maybe a push-up bra too.” He actually had the audacity to do a quick assessment of my chest. “Eh, maybe not. But definitely some high heels.” “Adrian,” I exclaimed. “You’ve seen how Alchemists dress. Do you think I can really wear something like that?” He was unconcerned. “You’ll make it work. You’ll change clothes or something. But I’m telling you, if you want to get a guy to do something that might be difficult, then the best way is to distract him so that he can’t devote his full brainpower to the consequences.” “You don’t have a lot of faith in your own gender.” “Hey, I’m telling you the truth. I’ve been distracted by sexy dresses a lot.” I didn’t really know if that was a valid argument, seeing as Adrian was distracted by a lot of things. Fondue. T-shirts. Kittens. “And so, what then? I show some skin, and the world is mine?” “That’ll help.” Amazingly, I could tell he was dead serious. “And you’ve gotta act confident the whole time, like it’s already a done deal. Then make sure when you’re actually asking for what you want that you tell him you’d be ‘so, so grateful.’ But don’t elaborate. His imagination will do half the work for you. ” I shook my head, glad we’d almost reached our destination. I didn’t know how much more I could listen to. “This is the most ridiculous advice I’ve ever heard. It’s also kind of sexist too, but I can’t decide who it offends more, men or women.” “Look, Sage. I don’t know much about chemistry or computer hacking or photosynthery, but this is something I’ve got a lot of experience with.” I think he meant photosynthesis, but I didn’t correct him. “Use my knowledge. Don’t let it go to waste.
Richelle Mead (The Indigo Spell (Bloodlines, #3))
A woman or man of value doesn’t love you because of what he or she wants you to be or do for them. He or she loves you because your combined souls understand one another, complements each other, and make sense above any other person in this world. You each share a part of their soul's mirror and see each other’s light reflected in it clearly. You can easily speak from the heart and feel safe doing so. Both of you have been traveling a parallel road your entire life. Without each other's presence, you feel like an old friend or family member was lost. It bothers you, not because you have given it too much meaning, but because God did. This is the type of person you don't have to fight for because you can't get rid of them and your heart doesn't want them to leave anyways.
Shannon L. Alder