Thomas McGuane Quotes

Somehow, knowing that Alzheimer's is coming mocks all one's aspirations - to tell stories, to think through certain issues as only a novel can do, to be recognised for one's accomplishments and hard work - in a way that old familiar death does not.

With something like cancer, there is a feeling that you can fight it in some way or control your response to it, but with dementia there is the fear of losing control of your mind and your life.

It's obvious that my brain isn't what it used to be.

Dying people often become childish.

You know, I have found a new way to get high and stay spaced out for hours on end, and the government can't stop me... It's called senility.

The older you get the more new memories get wiped out, and you end up remembering more about your early life than what you did last week.

This is why Alzheimer's is such a terrible disease: the body of the person you love is there, but they've gone - your husband is gone - and they become your child, and you have to look after them as you would a child.

My great frustration is that, more and more, my memories come and go, and friends all my life are not recognized. Many of the things I say and do, I can no longer remember even right afterwards.

It seems that when you have cancer you are a brave battler against the disease, but when you have Alzheimer's you are an old fart. That's how people see you. It makes you feel quite alone.

The defects of the mind, like those of the face, grow worse with age.

The process of writing and directing drives you to such extremes that it's natural to feel an affinity with insanity. I approach that madness as something dangerous, and I'm afraid, but also I want to go to it, to see what's there, to embrace it. I don't know why, but I'm drawn.

Suffering is always hard to quantify - especially when the pain is caused by as cruel a disease as Alzheimer's. Most illnesses attack the body; Alzheimer's destroys the mind - and in the process, annihilates the very self.

When I was younger, I was able to write with music playing in the background, but these days, I can't. I find it distracting. Even when the music is just instrumental or has lyrics in a language I don't understand, the clash between the voices in my head and the song can be very disorienting.

I am in the prime of my senility.

I can forgive the body breaking down. It's a little tougher to forgive that mental lapse.

I'm in awe of people out there who deal with Alzheimer's, because they have to deal with death 10 times over, year after year.

My eyesight is not nearly as good. My hearing is probably going away. My memory is slipping too. But I'm still around.

A lot of people stop short. They don't actually die but they say, 'Right I'm old, and I'm going to retire,' and then they dwindle into nothing. They go off to Florida and become jolly boring.

As you get older three things happen. The first is your memory goes, and I can't remember the other two.

My mother passed away of complications of dementia. As you get older, it really makes you realize how many people are touched by this disease.

The president was madman Reagan who's got Alzheimer's and has lost his mind. He now crawls on all fours.

My God. If I had known I was going to live this long, I would’ve taken better care of myself.... Since the alternative [to living with Alzheimer's Disease] is being dead, I am quite happy where I am.

If I really lose the rest of my memory, don't let my kids spend a lot of money to put me in an expensive care facility. If they treat me very well there, I will not remember it, and if they treat me badly I will not remember that either. So it really won't matter, will it?

With increasing age, dullness of mind and heart sets in.

Dementia is such a terrifying thing for all of us, and we are particularly bad at coping with old people in this country.