normalcy Quotes

“They suffer to exactly that degree that they are unable to appear normal to others, or to convince themselves that their aberration does not exist. These are true freaks, who appear, almost always, conventional and dull.”

“There are those who feel their own strangeness and are terrified by it. They struggle toward normalcy.”

“There are those whose own vulgar normality is so apparent and stultifying that they strive to escape it.”

“You felt ill this afternoon,” he said, “because you’re getting better. When we’re healthy we respond to the presence of the hateful with fear and nausea. You’re becoming healthy, that’s all. You’ll be healthier still this time tomorrow.”

“Men and women drink essentially because they like the effect produced by alcohol. The sensation is so elusive that, while they admit it is injurious, they cannot after a time differentiate the true from the false. To them, their alcoholic life seems the only normal one.”

″ The biggest change they had to make was getting used to buying food at a supermarket. ”

The kids spend their nights at the Colonel’s pool, the neighbors disapprove of their family for this among other things, which doesn’t’ make a new family feel better at all. Their mother died and with her, the normalcy of their family died. Retta, the eldest, has tried her best to replace their mother, but Johnny, the middle child, is fed up with Retta.

“Was there nothing to look at...no people to greet?Did nothing excite you or make your heart beat?”

“David thought living in a house was very difficult. It was not the house itself--that was lovely to be in - but the people. What was so difficult about them was that they constantly seemed to expect him to say and do things he would never have thought of, and what appeared sensible and natural to him seemed to surprise them...”

“I want to be a regular shape again, like other people. It’s not fair.”

“He stood with the end of the hose in his mouth, clamping his lips tightly so no air could escape.”