#anomie

Depression presents itself as a realism regarding the rottenness of the world in general and the rottenness of your life in particular. But the realism is merely a mask for depression's actual essence, which is an overwhelming estrangement from humanity. The more persuaded you are of your unique access to the rottenness, the more afraid you become of engaging with the world; and the less you engage with the world, the more perfidiously happy-faced the rest of humanity seems for continuing to engage with it. ↗

— Jonathan Franzen

#anomie #depression #life

To a man utterly without a sense of belonging, mere life is all that matters. It is the only reality in an eternity of nothingness, and he clings to it with shameless despair. ↗

— Eric Hoffer

#anomie #belonging #the-true-believer #life

You're living your days at the moment how a sheep grazes, meandering, not engaged with anything much. ↗

— Nikki Gemmell

#direction #purpose-of-life #life