Will Self Quotes

Everyone has something that they desperately need that makes them feel good, that they don't want anything to get in the way of. Whether it's a man's golf game, whether it's a woman's cooking. I have a friend who has to clean. She's addicted to cleaning.

I want to describe the psychological state of the people in a certain city.

Issues deals with the issues I had, the fears I had and it isn't a 'nice' album but fears and depressions are not particularly nice.

Everybody feels good in their skin for about a minute a day, and the rest of the day, you're just trying to navigate your way through the sea of terror.

We're all controlled neurotics.

I can certainly see how people are overcome by depression.

We make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones.

My name is Sherman J. Alexie Jr., and I am an insomniac.

One reason most people never stop thinking is that mental frenzy keeps us from having to see the upsetting aspects of our lives. If I'm constantly brooding about my children or career, I won't notice that I'm lonely. If I grapple continuously with logistical problems, I can avoid contemplating little issues like, say, my own mortality.

Fear is a driving force for most of the things that I do. I don't know if that's healthy.

Sleep is the best time to repair, but it's hard to get a good night's rest when we don't dial the inner chatter down.

Considering what Americans have been confronted with in the last ten years, domestically and internationally, it's clear that we need emotional outlets; we have to have some peace from our problems.

Hysteria is something that I've been interested for a very long time. I thought I might have it, but it seems that it's unlikely.

She seems to be having a pretty good time despite her worrying. That's Lily.

Everything is so chaotic. My nervous system can't handle it. I need my peace, so, every once in a while, while the kids are at school, I lie in bed, close the curtains, watch television and eat food.

If a woman gets insomnia, you never know where you're going to find her furniture the next morning. It's primal. We have so little we can control, but we can perfect the way our room looks.

Neurotics complain of their illness, but they make the most of it, and when it comes to talking it away from them they will defend it like a lioness her young.

Romantically, in my head, I'm Rambo, but if someone's shouting at me, I get adrenalin shakes and go red. When I'm really low, I have a good cry.

Basically, I'm for anything that gets you through the night - be it prayer, tranquilizers or a bottle of Jack Daniels.

My parents were not perfect, but no one's parents are. As childhoods go, mine was pretty comfortable and good in a lot of ways, and yet I still ended up with anxiety.

A neurosis is a secret that you don't know you are keeping.

Humour has always been a self-defence mechanism for me.

My head's never really quiet. The only time I can get it to turn off is if I watch 'CSI' or 'Law & Order,' where I have to follow the crime. If I can't turn my head off during that, I know I've really got a problem.

Everybody handles pressure differently.

I've been one of those people that hold on to a little bit more stress than others. People take certain situations a little bit differently.