Ned Vizzini citations

“(…) Since I was a kid."
"Which you refer to as 'back when you were happy.'"
"Right.”

“It’s tough to get out of bed; I know that myself. You can lie there for an hour and a half without thinking anything, just worrying about what the day holds and knowing that you won’t be able to deal with it.”

“The Shift hasn't happened yet, maybe it never will, but sometimes-just enough times to give me hope-my brain jars back into where it's supposed to be.”

“I can't eat and I can't sleep. I'm not doing well in terms of being a functional human, you know?”

“People are screwed up in this world. I'd rather be with someone screwed up and open about it than somebody perfect and ready to explode.”

“I waste at least an hour every day lying in bed. Then I waste time pacing. I waste time thinking. I waste time being quiet and not saying anything because I'm afraid I'll stutter.”

“I don't know how I can be so ambitious and so lazy at the same time.”

“I'm done with those; regrets are an excuse for people who have failed.”

“Things to do today:
1) Breathe in.
2) Breathe out.”

“I'm fine. Well, I'm not fine - I'm here."
"Is there something wrong with that?"
"Absolutely.”

“Dreams are only dreams until you wake up and make them real.”

“I don't owe people anything, and I don't have to talk to them any more than I feel I need to.”

“Sometimes I just think depression's one way of coping with the world. Like, some people get drunk, some people do drugs, some people get depressed. Because there's so much stuff out there that you have to do something to deal with it.”

“I just want to not be me.”

“I'm smart but not enough--just smart enough to have problems.”

“Life's not about feeling better, it's about getting the job done.”

“See, when you mess something up, you learn for the next time. It's when people compliment you that you're in trouble. That means they expect you to keep it up.”

“That's all I can do. I'll keep at it and hope it gets better.”

“Life can't be cured, but it can be managed.”

“So why am I depressed? That's the million-dollar question, baby, the Tootsie Roll question; not even the owl knows the answer to that one. I don't know either. All I know is the chronology.”

“Some of the most profound truths about us are things that we stop saying in the middle.”

“I should be a success and I'm not and other people- younger people- are. Younger people than me are on TV and getting their lives in order. I'm still a nobody. When am I going to not be a nobody?”

“Life is a nightmare.”

“No," mom says, looking at me in the eyes. "What's a triumph is that you woke up this morning and decided to LIVE. THAT'S a triumph. that's what you did today.”

“I wanted to tell people, "My depression is acting up today" as an excuse for not seeing them, but I never managed to pull it off.”

“Depression starts slow.”

“My family shouldn't have to put up with me. They're good people, solid, happy. Sometimes when I'm with them I think I'm on television.”

“The stuff adults tell you not to do is the easiest.”

“I'm not afraid of dying, I'm afraid of living.”