Quotes From "Its Kind Of A Funny Story" By Ned Vizzini

Sometimes I just think depression's one way of coping with the world. Like, some people get drunk, some people do drugs, some people get depressed. Because there's so much stuff out there that you have to do something to deal with it. Ned Vizzini

I didn't want to wake up. I was having a much better time asleep. And that's really sad. It was almost like a reverse nightmare, like when you wake up from a nightmare you're so relieved. I woke up into a nightmare. Ned Vizzini

I can't eat and I can't sleep. I'm not doing well in terms of being a functional human, you know? Ned Vizzini

I waste at least an hour every day lying in bed. Then I waste time pacing. I waste time thinking. I waste time being quiet and not saying anything because I'm afraid I'll stutter. Ned Vizzini

Its so hard to talk when you want to kill yourself. That's above and beyond everything else, and it's not a mental complaint-it's a physical thing, like it's physically hard to open your mouth and make the words come out. They don't come out smooth and in conjunction with your brain the way normal people's words do; they come out in chunks as if from a crushed-ice dispenser; you stumble on them as they gather behind your lower lip. So you just keep quiet. . Ned Vizzini

I'm fine. Well, I'm not fine - I'm here."" Is there something wrong with that?"" Absolutely. Ned Vizzini

I’m not better, you know. The weight hasn’t left my head. I feel how easily I could fall back into it, lie down and not eat, waste my time and curse wasting my time, look at my homework and freak out and go and chill at Aaron’s, look at Nia and be jealous again, take the subway home and hope that it has an accident, go and get my bike and head to the Brooklyn Bridge. All of that is still there. The only thing is, it’s not an option now. It’s just… a possibility, like it’s a possibility that I could turn to dust in the next instant and be disseminated throughout the universe as an omniscient consciousness. It’s not a very likely possibility. . Ned Vizzini

(...) Since I was a kid."" Which you refer to as 'back when you were happy.'"" Right. Ned Vizzini

What happened when you woke up?" "I was having a dream. I don’t know what it was, but when I woke up, I had this awful realization that I was awake. It hit me like a brick in the groin." "Like a brick in the groin, I see."" I didn't want to wake up. I was having a much better time asleep. And that's really sad. It was almost like a reverse nightmare, like when you wake up from a nightmare you're so relieved. I woke up into a nightmare." "And what is that nightmare, Craig?""Life." "Life is a nightmare."" Yes. . Ned Vizzini

You want to play video games twenty-four hours a day?"" Or watch. I just want to not be me. Whether it's sleeping or playing video games or riding my bike or studying. Giving my brain up. That's what's important. Ned Vizzini

I have a system with bathrooms. I spend a lot of time in them. They are sanctuaries, public places of peace spaced throughout the world for people like me. Ned Vizzini

This was all an excuse, I think. I was doing fine. I had a 93 average and I was holding my head above water. I had good friends and a loving family. And because I needed to be the center of attention, because I needed something more, I ended up here, wallowing in myself, trying to convince everybody around me that I have some kind of. disease. I don’t have any disease. I keep pacing. Depression isn’t a disease. It’s a pretext for being a prima donna. Everybody knows that. My friends know it; my principal knows it. The sweating has started again. I can feel the Cycling roaring up in my brain. I haven’t done anything right. What have I done, made a bunch of little pictures? That doesn’t count as anything. I’m finished. My principal just called me and I hung up on him and didn’t call back. I’m finished. I’m expelled. I’m finished. . Ned Vizzini

I don't-" I shake my head. (...) "What? What were you going to say?" This is another trick of shrinks. They never let you stop in midthought. If you open your mouth, they want to know exactly what you had the intention of saying. Ned Vizzini

It’s a huge thing, this Shift, just as big as I imagined. My brain doesn’t want to think anymore; all of a sudden it wants to do. Ned Vizzini

I wasn't going to have enough money to pay for a Good Lifestyle, which meant I'd feel ashamed, which meant I'd get depressed, and that was the big one because I knew what that did to me: it made it so I wouldn't get out of bed, which led to the ultimate thing–homelessness. If you can't get out of bed for long enough, people come and take your bed away. Ned Vizzini

I'm waiting for her to say "Craig, what you need to do is X" and for the Shift to occur. I want there to be a Shift so bad. I want to feel my brain slide back into the slot it was meant to be in, rest there the way it did before the fall of last year, back when I was young, and witty, and my teachers said I had incredible promise, and I had incredible promise, and I spoke up in class because I was excited and smart about the world. I want the Shift so bad. I'm waiting for the phrase that will invoke it. It'll be like a miracle within my life. But is Dr. Minerva a miracle worker? No. She's a thin, tan lady from Greece with red lipstick. Ned Vizzini

Whether it's sleeping or playing video games or riding my bike or studying. Giving my brain up. That's what's important. Ned Vizzini

It's not a mental complaint-it's a physical thing, like it's physically hard to open your mouth and make the words come out.... you stumble on them as they gather behind your lower lip. So you just keep quiet. Ned Vizzini

I'll fail."" At schoool."" Failing at school is failing at life. Ned Vizzini

I ask the nurse wrapping up her dispensing duties if I need any meds, and she says I'm not scheduled for any. I ask her if I can have some. She asks what I need them for. I tell her, to deal with this crazy place. She says if they had pills for that, they wouldn't need places like this in the first place, would they? Ned Vizzini

When you mess something up, you learn for the next time. Ned Vizzini

I shrug. I don't really need to explain this to Aaron. He's been demoted from most important friend to friend, and he's going to have to earn that, even. And you know what else? I don't owe people anything, and I don't have to talk to them any more than I feel I need to. Ned Vizzini

It's not a big thing, but I guess it's true- big things are often just small things that are noticed. Ned Vizzini

I didn't want to wake up. I was having a much better time asleep. And that's really sad. Ned Vizzini

Like I'm on the verge of just blowing up. All the stress and pressure and anxiety just bubbling up. Ned Vizzini

After college, I went through my own shit and decided that all physical suffering in the world couldn't compare to mental anguish. And when I got myself, I decided to help other people. Ned Vizzini

And I'm not assuming and I'm not judging. I'm just being curious. Ned Vizzini

I can smell the sex on her. I hope she smells the love on me. Ned Vizzini

I am a guy, " I say." And I hate boys, " she says." But a guy's different, " I say." Maybe a little, " she says. Ned Vizzini