3,748 books
—
25,990 voters
“The so-called ‘psychotically depressed’ person who tries to kill herself doesn’t do so out of quote ‘hopelessness’ or any abstract conviction that life’s assets and debits do not square. And surely not because death seems suddenly appealing. The person in whom Its invisible agony reaches a certain unendurable level will kill herself the same way a trapped person will eventually jump from the window of a burning high-rise. Make no mistake about people who leap from burning windows. Their terror of falling from a great height is still just as great as it would be for you or me standing speculatively at the same window just checking out the view; i.e. the fear of falling remains a constant. The variable here is the other terror, the fire’s flames: when the flames get close enough, falling to death becomes the slightly less terrible of two terrors. It’s not desiring the fall; it’s terror of the flames. And yet nobody down on the sidewalk, looking up and yelling ‘Don’t!’ and ‘Hang on!’, can understand the jump. Not really. You’d have to have personally been trapped and felt flames to really understand a terror way beyond falling.”
―
―
“Mind led body
to the edge of the precipice.
They stared in desire
at the naked abyss.
If you love me, said mind,
take that step into silence.
If you love me, said body,
turn and exist.”
―
to the edge of the precipice.
They stared in desire
at the naked abyss.
If you love me, said mind,
take that step into silence.
If you love me, said body,
turn and exist.”
―
“Suicide. A sideways word, a word that people whisper and mutter and cough: a word that must be squeezed out behind cupped palms or murmured behind closed doors. It was only in dreams that I heard the word shouted, screamed.”
― Delirium
― Delirium
“Nothing in my life has ever made me want to commit suicide more than people's reaction to my trying to commit suicide.”
― The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls
― The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls
Medieval Nonfiction Book Club
— 154 members
— last activity Oct 06, 2021 01:37AM
This book group reads nonfiction books on various topics in medieval European history, both academic and popular history. Group reads can last from on ...more
Around the World in 80 Books
— 30713 members
— last activity 47 minutes ago
Reading takes you places. Where in the world will your next book take you? If you love world literature, translated works, travel writing, or explorin ...more
Jackie’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Jackie’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Jackie
Lists liked by Jackie


























