Edward Gorey Quotes

Delia picked at the raw sores of her conscience...Drunk or sober, Delia lived in the small town in her heart, ignoring the world in which all her love had turned to grief.

If I cried me a river of all my confessions, would I drown in my shallow regret?

Whenever we feel shame, it's a mark of some deep investment or deep internal struggle.

It doesn't matter how many people say 'well, everyone makes mistakes Ricky, you've had a great career you should be proud of yourself' but that doesn't mean much compared to what goes on between my ears.

…I hate myself for not being able to go downstairs naturally and seek comfort in numbers. I hate myself for having to sit here and be torn between I know not what within me.

Even now, as I write this, I can still feel that tightness. And I want you to feel it--the wind coming off the river, the waves, the silence, the wooded frontier. You're at the bow of a boat on the Rainy River. You're twenty-one years old, you're scared, and there's a hard squeezing pressure in your chest. What would you do? Would you jump? Would you feel pity for yourself? Would you think about your family and your childhood and your dreams and all you're leaving behind? Would it hurt? Would it feel like dying? Would you cry, as I did?

Most self-laceration is more noisy than painful.

Do you absolutely despise me, Walter?" "No." He hesitated and his voice was strange. "I despise myself.

Don’t you just hate nights like that, when you think over every mistake you’ve made, every hurt you’ve received, every bit of meanness you’ve dealt out? There’s no profit in it, no point to it, and you need sleep.

I no longer knew whether it was raindrops or my own tears that were flowing down my cheeks, and I hated to have to drag along this relic of a sniveling child.

I have no idea where my pathetic nature comes from. If I thought about it too long, it would depress me.

I'm the one who has to look in the mirror, and after a while it begins to eat at you.

I have these accidents, these mistakes, these self-inflicted wounds, and then I tear my head to shreds about it for days.

Some of my instincts are reprehensible.

I have had more trouble with myself than with any other man.

All of my close friends are emotional train wrecks. This is what makes our lives interesting - constantly doubting ourselves, worrying, wondering if we've made a mistake. Could we have done better? Are we good people? Are we bad people?

Conscience: something that feels terrible when everything else feels well.

The darkest moments for me weren't necessarily winding up in the hospital or anything like that. It was those quiet moments alone when I just hated the person I had become.

It's really hard to watch yourself.

The third person allows characters to really attack themselves. We all do this - attack ourselves - every hour of our lives.

I've always been at war with myself, for right or wrong. I don't know how to explain it more. It's universal. Some people are better at dealing with it, and they sleep with no pain - not pain, arguments. I've grown quite comfortable with being at war.

I don't get along much with myself.

Personally, I've struggled with a lot of doubt in myself at times.

I think I beat myself up more than anyone else.

I've criticized myself over the years.