Authors:

Susannah Cahalan Quotes

Sometimes, Just when we need them, life wraps metaphors up in little bows for us. When you think all is lost, the things you need the most return unexpectedly.

Sometimes, Just when we need them, life wraps metaphors up in little bows for us. When you think all is lost, the things you need the most return unexpectedly.

Susannah Cahalan
Thinking, Needs, Littles
Susannah Cahalan (2012). “Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness”, p.206, Simon and Schuster

To move foward, you have to leave the past behind

Susannah Cahalan
Moving, Past, Behinds

The brain is a monstrous, beautiful mess.

Susannah Cahalan
Beautiful, Brain, Neurons
Susannah Cahalan (2012). “Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness”, p.107, Simon and Schuster

On April 2, the nurses started my first round of five intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) infusions. The clear IV bags hung on a metal pole above my head, their liquid trickling down into my vein. Each of those ordinary-looking bags contained the healthy antibodies of over a thousand blood donors and cost upwards of $20,000 per infusion. One thousand tourniquets, one thousand nurses, one thousand veins, one thousand blood-sugar regulating cookies, all just to help one patient.

Susannah Cahalan
Blood, Nurse, Healthy
Susannah Cahalan (2012). “Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness”, p.116, Simon and Schuster

We are, in the end, a sum of our parts, and when the body fails, all the virtues we hold dear go with it.

Susannah Cahalan
Body, Failing, Virtue
Susannah Cahalan (2012). “Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness”, p.43, Simon and Schuster

Maybe it's true what Thomas Moore said: “It is only through mystery and madness that the soul is revealed.

Susannah Cahalan
Soul, Madness, Mystery
Susannah Cahalan (2012). “Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness”, p.56, Simon and Schuster

When the brain is working to remember something, similar patterns of neurons fire as they did during the perception of the original event. These networks are linked, and each time we revisit them, they become stronger and more associated. But they need the proper retrieval cues--words, smells, images-- for them to be brought back as memories

Susannah Cahalan
Memories, Fire, Smell
Susannah Cahalan (2012). “Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness”, p.200, Simon and Schuster

You May Also Like: