The Asylum Quotes

“You were grieving – are still grieving – but grief is not an illness, it’s the price of love.”
― Karen Coles, The Asylum

“close my eyes and imagine the smell of damp woods in winter, of leaf litter and fungi. I breathe it in, that smell, and I’m there.”
― Karen Coles, The Asylum

“Excitement stimulates the brain, a major cause of sickness in women.”
― Karen Coles, The Asylum

“We walk, the three of us, arm in arm around the flower beds. Already my head is clearing, the sorrow is lifting. It’s the stale air in the asylum, the warmth, the damp, that muddles my brain. If I were outside all day, I should be as sane as can be.”
― Karen Coles, The Asylum

“Neither of us is lying. We’re both telling the truth as we see it. The past is like that. Memories are our interpretation of events. What we recall is the truth – as we see it.”
― Karen Coles, The Asylum

“I can smell the crushed grass already, that sweet, sharp perfume.”
― Karen Coles, The Asylum

“Distressing memories left buried can poison the mind.’ He knows. He knows what’s inside my head.”
― Karen Coles, The Asylum

“The thought of it sets me trembling. Whatever happened in the past was terrible enough to destroy my mind. Perhaps it was something I did, something so wicked it sent me mad.”
― Karen Coles, The Asylum

“If I were free, how glad I should be to be alert, with a clear mind, but as it is, it only makes my life worse.”
― Karen Coles, The Asylum

“I pull it on and slip the pencil up my sleeve. It’s cool and hard and the sharp point scratches my skin when I move. It’s a comfort, knowing it’s there, protecting me.”
― Karen Coles, The Asylum

“Light never stays near me for long – repulsed by the darkness within, no doubt.”
― Karen Coles, The Asylum

“My racing heart slows. Sounds grow muffled and blessed sleep draws me down into nothingness.”
― Karen Coles, The Asylum

“Only the clock is unaffected. It ticks on as if nothing has changed.”
― Karen Coles, The Asylum

“You know as well as I do, sir, that women’s brains are not capable of scientific study. They’re too soft, prone to overexcitement.”
― Karen Coles, The Asylum

“The rain arrives. It patters against the window, tiny drops at first, speckling the glass, then large, fat ones that swallow the small ones that get in their way. They slide down the glass and pool at the grille, swelling and swelling until they can cling on no longer, then spill over the edge to fall on to the next pane.”
― Karen Coles, The Asylum