The Rosie Effect Quotes

“But I had concluded that being myself, with all my intrinsic flaws, was more important than having the thing I wanted most.”
― Graeme Simsion, The Rosie Effect

“To the world’s most perfect woman.’ It was lucky my father was not present. Perfect is an absolute that cannot be modified, like unique or pregnant. My love for Rosie was so powerful that it had caused my brain to make a grammatical error.”
― Graeme Simsion, The Rosie Effect

“I was suddenly angry. I wanted to shake not just Lydia but the whole world of people who do not understand the difference between control of emotion and lack of it, and who make a totally illogical connection between inability to read others’ emotions and inability to experience their own.”
― Graeme Simsion, The Rosie Effect

“Rationality was returning to deal with the mess that emotions had created.”
― Graeme Simsion, The Rosie Effect

“Rain Man! I had seen the film. I did not identify in any way with Rain Man, who was inarticulate, dependent, and unemployable. A society of Rain Men would be dysfunctional. A society of Don Tillmans would be efficient, safe, and pleasant for all of us.”
― Graeme Simsion, The Rosie Effect

“Highly intelligent people are often bullied. As a result of being different. That difference being high intelligence.”
― Graeme Simsion, The Rosie Effect

“Watch some kids, watch them play. You’ll see they’re just little adults, only they don’t know all the rules and tricks yet.”
― Graeme Simsion, The Rosie Effect

“It was odd, paradoxical-crazy-that what Rosie seemed to value most about me, a highly organized person who avoided uncertainty and liked to plan in detail, was that my behavior generated unpredictable consequences. But if that was what she loved, I was not going to argue. What I was going to argue was that she should not abandon something she valued.”
― Graeme Simsion, The Rosie Effect

“All of us are programmed-genetically programmed-to keep doing what's worked for us, and to avoid things that didn't work.”
― Graeme Simsion, The Rosie Effect

“I thought you were happy about having a baby.’ I was happy in the way that I would be happy if the captain of an aircraft in which I was travelling announced that he had succeeded in restarting one engine after both had failed. Pleased that I would now probably survive, but shocked that the situation had arisen in the first place, and expecting a thorough investigation into the circumstances.”
― Graeme Simsion, The Rosie Effect

“In marriage reason frequently had to take second place to Harmony”
― Graeme Simsion, The Rosie Effect

“It is generally accepted that people enjoy surprises: hence the traditions associated with Christmas, birthdays, and anniversaries. In my experience, most of the pleasure accrues to the giver. The victim is frequently under pressure to feign, at short notice, a positive response to an unwanted object or unscheduled event.”
― Graeme Simsion, The Rosie Effect

“After the most basic physical requirements are satisfied, human happiness is almost independent of wealth. A meaningful job is far more important.”
― Graeme Simsion, The Rosie Effect

“Humans should be permanently under development.”
― Graeme Simsion, The Rosie Effect

“Sex was absolutely not allowed to be scheduled, at least not by explicit discussion, but I had become familiar with the sequence of events likely to precipitate it: a blueberry muffin from Blue Sky Bakery, a triple shot of espresso from Otha’s, removal of my shirt, and my impersonation of Gregory Peck in the role of Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird.”
― Graeme Simsion, The Rosie Effect

“Dishonesty was part of the price of being a social animal, and of marriage in particular.”
― Graeme Simsion, The Rosie Effect

“It is generally less time-consuming to do work myself than to get involved in the paperwork required to get help.”
― Graeme Simsion, The Rosie Effect

“We’re scientists,” I reminded him. “We shouldn’t be defeated by problems. If we think hard enough, a solution will present itself.”
― Graeme Simsion, The Rosie Effect

“I have a theory that everyone is as odd as I am when they are alone.”
― Graeme Simsion, The Rosie Effect

“Don, problems that originate in childhood are never solved. Psychotherapists make a living out of that.”
― Graeme Simsion, The Rosie Effect

“The trouble", said Gene, "is that the things that Rosie loves you for are exactly the things that make her think you're too... different, to be a father. She may be a risk taker with relationships, but no woman's a risk taker with her kids. In the end, it will come down to persuading her you're... average enough to be a father.”
― Graeme Simsion, The Rosie Effect

“Greetings. My name is Don Tillman and I am a suspected paedophile. I wish to put myself on standby for an assessment.”
― Graeme Simsion, The Rosie Effect

“You know something? On their deathbed, nobody ever wishes they’d spent more time at the office.”
― Graeme Simsion, The Rosie Effect

“before sharing interesting information that has not been solicited, think carefully about whether it has the potential to cause distress.”
― Graeme Simsion, The Rosie Effect

“I accepted that I was wired differently than most people, or, more precisely, that my wiring was toward one end of a spectrum of different human configurations. My innate logical skills were significantly greater than my interpersonal skills.”
― Graeme Simsion, The Rosie Effect

“You know what my doctor said about that book you’ve been reading? “Give it to someone you hate.”
― Graeme Simsion, The Rosie Effect

“There was an extraordinary amount to process, and my brain was now functioning normally, or at least int the manner that I was accustomed to. The meltdown was perhaps the psychological equivalent of a reboot following an overload.”
― Graeme Simsion, The Rosie Effect

“What if you're wrong and there is no problem? I may create a problem by responding to an imaginary one. Like falling over because you think there's a step and there isn't one.”
― Graeme Simsion, The Rosie Effect

“What are your professional qualifications?’ He laughed. ‘The university of life. The school of hard knocks.”
― Graeme Simsion, The Rosie Effect

“As we age, we sleep less soundly: one evolutionary explanation is that in the ancestral environment the young hunters and warriors required undisturbed sleep, while the older members of the tribe acted as watchdogs and needed to be woken by the slightest noise.”
― Graeme Simsion, The Rosie Effect