reaction Quotes

Codependents are reactionaries. They overreact. They under-react. But rarely do they act. They react to the problems, pains, lives, and behaviors of others. They react to their own problems, pains, and behaviors.

“Hillari Kimble walked up to Stargirl and said, ‘You ruin everything.’ And she slapped her. The crowd grew instantly still. The two girls stood facing each other for a long minute. Those nearby saw in Hillari’s shoulders and eyes a flinching: she was waiting to be struck in reply. And in fact, when Stargirl finally moved, Hillari winced and shut her eyes. But it was lips that touched her, not the palm of a hand. Stargirl kissed her gently on the cheek. She was gone by the time Hillari opened her eyes.”

“Fear is a universal experience. Even the smallest insect feels it. We wade in the tidal pools and put our finger near the soft, open bodies of sea anemones and they close up. Everything spontaneously does that. It’s not a terrible thing that we feel fear when faced with the unknown. It is part of being alive, something we all share. We react against the possibility of loneliness, of death, of not having anything to hold on to. Fear is a natural reaction to moving closer to the truth.”

“It’s not so much ability as attitude.”

“It’s not a question of whether you will hurt, or of how much you will hurt; it’s a question of what you will do, and how well you will do it, while pain has her wanton way with you.”

“Humans cover themselves, and protect themselves, and when someone says, “You are pushing my buttons,” it is not exactly true. What is true is that you are touching a wound in his mind, and he reacts because it hurts.”

“Psychological distress triggered by reminders of trauma, marked physiological reactions (such as sweating, breathing difficulties, or heart palpitations), intrusive memories, nightmares, and flashbacks are the five quintessential intrusive features of PTSD.”

“All reaction is limited by, and dependant on, what it is reacting against.”

“We are taught that the body is an ignorant animal intelligence dwells only in the head. But the body is smart. It does not discern between external stimuli and stimuli from the imagination. It reacts equally viscerally to events from the imagination as it does to real events.”

“Any action of the human heart must trigger an equal and opposite reaction.”

“We have no control over the reality that in this world we will have trouble, but we have control over whether we decide to allow our hearts to be troubled.”

“Our unconscious is a powerful force. But it’s fallible. It’s not the case that our internal computer always shines through, instantly decoding the “truth” of a situation. It can be thrown off, distracted, and disabled. Our instinctive reactions often have to compete with all kinds of other interests and emotions and sentiments.”

“I only knew that it was time to go, so I opened the door and stepped into the light.”

“It made me happy to have someone react like that to something I made.”

“When something happens to you, you have two choices in how to deal with it. You can either get bitter, or get better.”

“Of course he has a knife, he always has a knife, we all have knives! It’s 1183 and we’re all barbarians!”

“How you react to people and situations, especially when challenges arise, is the best indicator of how deeply you know yourself.”

“We live together, we act on, and react to, one another; but always and in all circumstances we are by ourselves.”

“As surely and quickly as you saw that the young woman’s hair is dark, you knew she is angry. Furthermore, what you saw extended into the future. You sensed that this woman is about to say some very unkind words, probably in a loud and strident voice.”

“System 1 operates automatically and quickly with little or no effort and no sense of voluntary control.”