Samantha

“The Yellow Wallpaper" seemed to me now to be the story of what can happen when you listen to a doctor-when you buy into your "case-history construction." When you don't listen to yourself, when you place your trust and authority elsewhere. The narrator loses her mind completely, becomes the madwoman, the identity they've given her. The "rationale" for their treatment of her is now confirmed; she is sick, indeed. This is what can happen: You are seen as mad, you begin acting mad.”
― Suzanne Scanlon, Committed: On Meaning and Madwomen

“These moments of remaining alone in my apartment, of not going to asylum, were minor victories, even if the thought of keeping myself alive was worse than the thought of death.”
― Suzanne Scanlon, Committed: On Meaning and Madwomen

“If I could explain my madness, it would be the persistence of a certain feeling--I remember the feeling but I can no longer feel it--the memory of it is vivid, and enough. It came over me around twilight. The intensity of a great, irrevocable loss would wash over me and with it, the absolute certainty that I would not survive it. Strange you can remember the texture of a feeling without feeling it. With this as measure, I know I got better. But I also grew up, and no feeling is final, and I came to understand the waves of feeling, to know this too shall pass. Every once in a while I'll feel a sadness or a loneliness that will remind me of the mad feeling, but it is nowhere as strong, and more importantly, it is never concomitant with the belief that it will last forever.”
― Suzanne Scanlon, Committed: On Meaning and Madwomen

“Blood is thicker than water, but family isn’t just about blood. Family is about faith, and loyalty, and who you love. If you don’t have those things, I don’t care what the blood says. You’re not family.”
― Seanan McGuire, Midnight Blue-Light Special