Self Pity Quotes
Quotes tagged as "self-pity"
Showing 1-30 of 166
![Mitch Albom](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/authors/1694790016i/2331._UX200_CR0,0,200,200_.jpg)
“The only time we waste is the time we spend thinking we are alone.”
― The Five People You Meet in Heaven
― The Five People You Meet in Heaven
![D.H. Lawrence](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/authors/1375811585i/17623._UX200_CR0,56,200,200_.jpg)
“I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself.”
― The Complete Poems of D.H. Lawrence
― The Complete Poems of D.H. Lawrence
![Stephen Fry](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/authors/1699018403i/10917._UX200_CR0,0,200,200_.jpg)
“Certainly the most destructive vice if you like, that a person can have. More than pride, which is supposedly the number one of the cardinal sins - is self pity. Self pity is the worst possible emotion anyone can have. And the most destructive. It is, to slightly paraphrase what Wilde said about hatred, and I think actually hatred's a subset of self pity and not the other way around - ' It destroys everything around it, except itself '.
Self pity will destroy relationships, it'll destroy anything that's good, it will fulfill all the prophecies it makes and leave only itself. And it's so simple to imagine that one is hard done by, and that things are unfair, and that one is underappreciated, and that if only one had had a chance at this, only one had had a chance at that, things would have gone better, you would be happier if only this, that one is unlucky. All those things. And some of them may well even be true. But, to pity oneself as a result of them is to do oneself an enormous disservice.
I think it's one of things we find unattractive about the american culture, a culture which I find mostly, extremely attractive, and I like americans and I love being in america. But, just occasionally there will be some example of the absolutely ravening self pity that they are capable of, and you see it in their talk shows. It's an appalling spectacle, and it's so self destructive. I almost once wanted to publish a self help book saying 'How To Be Happy by Stephen Fry : Guaranteed success'. And people buy this huge book and it's all blank pages, and the first page would just say - ' Stop Feeling Sorry For Yourself - And you will be happy '. Use the rest of the book to write down your interesting thoughts and drawings, and that's what the book would be, and it would be true. And it sounds like 'Oh that's so simple', because it's not simple to stop feeling sorry for yourself, it's bloody hard. Because we do feel sorry for ourselves, it's what Genesis is all about.”
―
Self pity will destroy relationships, it'll destroy anything that's good, it will fulfill all the prophecies it makes and leave only itself. And it's so simple to imagine that one is hard done by, and that things are unfair, and that one is underappreciated, and that if only one had had a chance at this, only one had had a chance at that, things would have gone better, you would be happier if only this, that one is unlucky. All those things. And some of them may well even be true. But, to pity oneself as a result of them is to do oneself an enormous disservice.
I think it's one of things we find unattractive about the american culture, a culture which I find mostly, extremely attractive, and I like americans and I love being in america. But, just occasionally there will be some example of the absolutely ravening self pity that they are capable of, and you see it in their talk shows. It's an appalling spectacle, and it's so self destructive. I almost once wanted to publish a self help book saying 'How To Be Happy by Stephen Fry : Guaranteed success'. And people buy this huge book and it's all blank pages, and the first page would just say - ' Stop Feeling Sorry For Yourself - And you will be happy '. Use the rest of the book to write down your interesting thoughts and drawings, and that's what the book would be, and it would be true. And it sounds like 'Oh that's so simple', because it's not simple to stop feeling sorry for yourself, it's bloody hard. Because we do feel sorry for ourselves, it's what Genesis is all about.”
―
![Paul Monette](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/authors/1238994206i/29691.jpg)
“Self pity becomes your oxygen. But you learned to breathe it without a gasp. So, nobody even notices you're hurting.”
―
―
![Tom Robbins](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/authors/1430660478i/197._UX200_CR0,43,200,200_.jpg)
“All depression has its roots in self-pity, and all self-pity is rooted in people taking themselves too seriously.”
At the time Switters had disputed her assertion. Even at seventeen, he was aware that depression could have chemical causes.
“The key word here is roots,” Maestra had countered. “The roots of depression. For most people, self-awareness and self-pity blossom simultaneously in early adolescence. It's about that time that we start viewing the world as something other than a whoop-de-doo playground, we start to experience personally how threatening it can be, how cruel and unjust. At the very moment when we become, for the first time, both introspective and socially conscientious, we receive the bad news that the world, by and large, doesn't give a rat's ass. Even an old tomato like me can recall how painful, scary, and disillusioning that realization was. So, there's a tendency, then, to slip into rage and self-pity, which if indulged, can fester into bouts of depression.”
“Yeah but Maestra—”
“Don't interrupt. Now, unless someone stronger and wiser—a friend, a parent, a novelist, filmmaker, teacher, or musician—can josh us out of it, can elevate us and show us how petty and pompous and monumentally useless it is to take ourselves so seriously, then depression can become a habit, which, in tern, can produce a neurological imprint. Are you with me? Gradually, our brain chemistry becomes conditioned to react to negative stimuli in a particular, predictable way. One thing'll go wrong and it'll automatically switch on its blender and mix us that black cocktail, the ol’ doomsday daiquiri, and before we know it, we’re soused to the gills from the inside out. Once depression has become electrochemically integrated, it can be extremely difficult to philosophically or psychologically override it; by then it's playing by physical rules, a whole different ball game. That's why, Switters my dearest, every time you've shown signs of feeling sorry for yourself, I've played my blues records really loud or read to you from The Horse’s Mouth. And that’s why when you’ve exhibited the slightest tendency toward self-importance, I’ve reminded you that you and me— you and I: excuse me—may be every bit as important as the President or the pope or the biggest prime-time icon in Hollywood, but none of us is much more than a pimple on the ass-end of creation, so let’s not get carried away with ourselves. Preventive medicine, boy. It’s preventive medicine.”
“But what about self-esteem?”
“Heh! Self-esteem is for sissies. Accept that you’re a pimple and try to keep a lively sense of humor about it. That way lies grace—and maybe even glory.”
― Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates
At the time Switters had disputed her assertion. Even at seventeen, he was aware that depression could have chemical causes.
“The key word here is roots,” Maestra had countered. “The roots of depression. For most people, self-awareness and self-pity blossom simultaneously in early adolescence. It's about that time that we start viewing the world as something other than a whoop-de-doo playground, we start to experience personally how threatening it can be, how cruel and unjust. At the very moment when we become, for the first time, both introspective and socially conscientious, we receive the bad news that the world, by and large, doesn't give a rat's ass. Even an old tomato like me can recall how painful, scary, and disillusioning that realization was. So, there's a tendency, then, to slip into rage and self-pity, which if indulged, can fester into bouts of depression.”
“Yeah but Maestra—”
“Don't interrupt. Now, unless someone stronger and wiser—a friend, a parent, a novelist, filmmaker, teacher, or musician—can josh us out of it, can elevate us and show us how petty and pompous and monumentally useless it is to take ourselves so seriously, then depression can become a habit, which, in tern, can produce a neurological imprint. Are you with me? Gradually, our brain chemistry becomes conditioned to react to negative stimuli in a particular, predictable way. One thing'll go wrong and it'll automatically switch on its blender and mix us that black cocktail, the ol’ doomsday daiquiri, and before we know it, we’re soused to the gills from the inside out. Once depression has become electrochemically integrated, it can be extremely difficult to philosophically or psychologically override it; by then it's playing by physical rules, a whole different ball game. That's why, Switters my dearest, every time you've shown signs of feeling sorry for yourself, I've played my blues records really loud or read to you from The Horse’s Mouth. And that’s why when you’ve exhibited the slightest tendency toward self-importance, I’ve reminded you that you and me— you and I: excuse me—may be every bit as important as the President or the pope or the biggest prime-time icon in Hollywood, but none of us is much more than a pimple on the ass-end of creation, so let’s not get carried away with ourselves. Preventive medicine, boy. It’s preventive medicine.”
“But what about self-esteem?”
“Heh! Self-esteem is for sissies. Accept that you’re a pimple and try to keep a lively sense of humor about it. That way lies grace—and maybe even glory.”
― Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates
![John Gardner](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/authors/1342714293i/481146._UX200_CR0,0,200,200_.jpg)
“Self pity is easily the most destructive of the non-pharmaceutical narcotics; it is addictive, gives momentary pleasure and separates the victim from reality.”
―
―
![Debbie Macomber](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/authors/1504134060i/11349._UX200_CR0,50,200,200_.jpg)
“It's all right to sit on your pity pot every now and again. Just be sure to flush when you are finished.
Mrs. Miracle”
― Mrs. Miracle
Mrs. Miracle”
― Mrs. Miracle
![Gary Paulsen](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/authors/1595914847i/18._UX200_CR0,18,200,200_.jpg)
“He did not know how long it took, but later he looked back on this time of crying in the corner of the dark cave and thought of it as when he learned the most important rule of survival, which was that feeling sorry for yourself didn't work. It wasn't just that it was wrong to do, or that it was considered incorrect. It was more than that--it didn't work.”
― Hatchet
― Hatchet
![Eckhart Tolle](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/authors/1505974741i/4493._UX200_CR0,0,200,200_.jpg)
“I don't want it to end, and so, as every therapist knows, the ego does not want an end to its “problems” because they are part of its identity. If no one will listen to my sad story, I can tell it to myself in my head, over and over, and feel sorry for myself, and so have an identity as someone who is being treated unfairly by life or other people, fate or God. It gives definition to my self-image, makes me into someone, and that is all that matters to the ego.”
―
―
![Ann Marie Aguilar](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/authors/1331369556i/4822710._UY200_CR33,0,200,200_.jpg)
“When we pity ourselves all we see is ourselves. When we have problems, all we see are our problems and that's all what we love of talking about. We don't see the good things in our lives.”
―
―
![Maya Angelou](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/authors/1379017377i/3503._UX200_CR0,6,200,200_.jpg)
“Self-pity in its early stages is as snug as a feather mattress. Only when it hardens does it become uncomfortable.”
― Gather Together in My Name
― Gather Together in My Name
![Julian Barnes](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/authors/1606567988i/1462._UX200_CR0,0,200,200_.jpg)
“In my terms, I settled for the realities of life, and submitted to its necessities: if this, then that, and so the years passed. In Adrian's terms, I gave up on life, gave up on examining it, took it as it came. And so, for the first time, I began to feel a more general remorse - a feeling somewhere between self-pity and self-hatred - about my whole life. All of it. I had lost the friends of my youth. I had lost the love of my wife. I had abandoned the ambitions I had entertained. I had wanted life not to bother me too much, and had succeeded - and how pitiful that was.”
― The Sense of an Ending
― The Sense of an Ending
![Joan Bauer](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/authors/1208885950i/190441.jpg)
“It was February sixth: eight days until Valentine's Day. I was dateless, as usual, deep in the vice grip of unrequited love. It was bad enough not having a boyfriend for New Year's Eve. Now I had to cope with Valentine datelessness, feeling consummate social pressure from every retailer in America who stuck hearts and cupids in their windows by January second to rub it in.”
― Thwonk
― Thwonk
![H. Beam Piper](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/authors/1335650823i/128647._UY200_CR21,0,200,200_.jpg)
“Take a drink because you pity yourself, and then the drink pities you and has a drink, and then two good drinks get together and that calls for drinks all around.”
― Little Fuzzy
― Little Fuzzy
![Jodi Picoult](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/authors/1657141143i/7128._UX200_CR0,33,200,200_.jpg)
“On my license, it says I'm an organ donor, but the truth is I'd consider being an organ martyr. I'm sure I'm worth a lot more dead than alive - the sum of the parts equal more than the whole. I wonder who might wind up walking around with my liver, my lungs, even my eyeballs. I wonder what poor asshole would get stuck with whatever it is in me that passes for a heart.”
― My Sister’s Keeper
― My Sister’s Keeper
“Never feel self-pity, the most destructive emotion there is. How awful to be caught up in the terrible squirrel cage of self.”
―
―
![Francis de Sales](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/authors/1610247675i/7041089._UX200_CR0,33,200,200_.jpg)
“Fits of anger, vexation,and bitterness against ourselves tend to pride and they spring from no other source than self-love, which is disturbed and upset at seeing that it is imperfect.”
―
―
![Joan Bauer](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/authors/1208885950i/190441.jpg)
“It was bad enough not having a boyfriend for New Year's Eve. Now I had to cope with Valentine datelessness, feeling consummate social pressure from every retailer in America who stuck hearts and cupids on their windows by January second to rub it in. (Thwonk)”
―
―
![Catherynne M. Valente](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/authors/1220999852i/338705.jpg)
“You ain't no woodstove; you can't just squat in the middle of my house and stew.”
― Six-Gun Snow White
― Six-Gun Snow White
![Christopher Hitchens](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/authors/1434046956i/3956._UY200_CR23,0,200,200_.jpg)
“There came an awful day when I picked up the phone and knew at once, as one does with some old friends even before they speak, that it was Edward. He sounded as if he were calling from the bottom of a well. I still thank my stars that I didn't say what I nearly said, because the good professor's phone pals were used to cheering or teasing him out of bouts of pessimism and insecurity when he would sometimes say ridiculous things like: 'I hope you don't mind being disturbed by some mere wog and upstart.' The remedy for this was not to indulge it but to reply with bracing and satirical stuff which would soon get the gurgling laugh back into his throat. But I'm glad I didn't say, 'What, Edward, splashing about again in the waters of self-pity?' because this time he was calling to tell me that he had contracted a rare strain of leukemia. Not at all untypically, he used the occasion to remind me that it was very important always to make and keep regular appointments with one’s physician.”
― Hitch 22: A Memoir
― Hitch 22: A Memoir
![Alfred Hayes](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/authors/1651473967i/609132._UX200_CR0,23,200,200_.jpg)
“I made spasmodic efforts to work, assuring myself that once I began working I would forget her. The difficulty was in beginning. There was a feeling of weakness, a sort of powerlessness now, as though I were about to be ill but was never quite ill enough, as though I were about to come down with something I did not quite come down with. It seemed to me that for the first time in my life I had been in love, and had lost, because of the grudgingness of my heart, the possibility of having what, too late, I now thought I wanted. What was it that all my life I had so carefully guarded myself against? What was it that I had felt so threatened me? My suffering, which seemed to me to be a strict consequence of having guarded myself so long, appeared to me as a kind of punishment, and this moment, which I was now enduring, as something which had been delayed for half a lifetime. I was experincing, apparently, an obscure crisis of some kind. My world acquired a tendency to crumble as easily as a soda cracker. I found myself horribly susceptible to small animals, ribbons in the hair of little girls, songs played late at night over lonely radios. It became particularly dangerous for me to go near movies in which crippled girls were healed by the unselfish love of impoverished bellhops. I had become excessively tender to all the more obvious evidences of the frailness of existence; I was capable of dissolving at the least kind word, and self-pity, in inexhaustible doses, lay close to my outraged surface. I moved painfully, an ambulatory case, mysteriously injured.”
― In Love
― In Love
![Mitch Albom](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/authors/1694790016i/2331._UX200_CR0,0,200,200_.jpg)
“Mitch, I don't allow myself any more self-pity than that. A little each morning, a few tears, and that's all."
I thought about all the people I knew who spent many of their waking hours feeling sorry for themselves. How useful it would be to put a daily limit on self-pity. Just a few minutes, then on with the day. And if Morrie could do it, with such a horrible disease . . .”
― Tuesdays with Morrie
I thought about all the people I knew who spent many of their waking hours feeling sorry for themselves. How useful it would be to put a daily limit on self-pity. Just a few minutes, then on with the day. And if Morrie could do it, with such a horrible disease . . .”
― Tuesdays with Morrie
![Zakhar Prilepin](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/authors/1594327631i/1870205.jpg)
“Я успел выпить еще темного, со вкусом сеновала, пива, и теперь с удовольствием бы обнял по-дружески звезду рок-н-ролла – всякое быдло склонно как можно скорее наверстать разницу между собой и объектом восхищения, будь то сладкая женщина или сердечно почитаемый человек.”
―
―
“It’s okay to be sad. Pity yourself. Cry it out. But don’t get too comfortable with these emotions. Because the next step is: LET IT GO.”
―
―
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