Aphasia Quotes

“Thus the feeling I sometimes have - which all of us who work closely with aphasiacs have - that one cannot lie to an aphasiac. He cannot grasp your words, and cannot be deceived by them; but what he grasps he grasps with infallible precision, namely the expression that goes with the words, the total, spontaneous, involuntary expressiveness which can never be simulated or faked, as words alone can, too easily.”
― Oliver Sacks, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales

“It's like having a head full of holes, in which the perfect repository of words have shamed themselves," he lamented.”
― Diane Ackerman, One Hundred Names for Love: A Stroke, a Marriage, and the Language of Healing

“He put his fist against his chest. “Burn, Maddygirl,” he said. Then he turned and left her in the flickering gloom and thunder.”
― Laura Kinsale, Flowers from the Storm

“Since so much of our identity is constructed through our social relationships, which rely so heavily on language, aphasia can obliterate that feeling of belonging”
― Debra Meyerson, Identity Theft: Rediscovering Ourselves After Stroke

“"The duke stopped beside Maddy’s chair. He turned to Mr. Pember and in the sort of tone that could command regiments, uttered. “Cat.””
― Laura Kinsale, Flowers from the Storm