Patty Duke Quotes, Thoughts and images

My recovery from manic depression has been an evolution, not a sudden miracle.

Reality is hard. It is no walk in the park, this thing called life.

I can't tell you what I had for breakfast, but I can sing every single word of rock and roll

If I have any message for others, it is to go for help early and not to be a resistant patient

I tell people to monitor their self-pity. Self-pity is very unattractive.

Sometimes it is the simplest, seemingly most inane, most practical stuff that matters the most to someone.

I still have highs and lows, just like any other person. What's missing is the lack of control over the super highs, which became destructive, and the super lows, which are immediately destructive.

All I will tell you is that I play a small role in someone's happily ever after.

The Eleanor Roosevelt Award that I received for women's rights activities is one I treasure

I knew from a very young age that there was something very wrong with me

Human beings have speculated about the relationship between inspiration and insanity for centuries.

I never did quite fit the glamour mode. It is life with my husband and family that is my high now.

One of the things I've discovered in general about raising kids is that they really don't give a damn if you walked five miles to school.

We have developed this unbelievable ability to deny. We have to. If we didn't, we'd go crazy.

I believe that all the important people in my life prior to 1982 were victimized by my illness

I had been very close to Anne Bancroft when we worked together in The Miracle Worker

No matter what your laundry list of requirements in choosing a mate, there has to be an element of good luck and good fortune and good timing.

I'm not sure I want all my neuroses cleared up

The panic attacks - I still have them. They started when I was around 8. They always have to do with my death

I was just sort of moving through time.

I can't even remember how many times I tried to kill myself

You can have manic depression without having an ounce of creativity

I joke around a lot about the manic times because they're funny. We manics do outrageous things and it is part of our colorful nature.

I have been afraid all my life that I am going to die. All my life it has been stuffed in my imagination

I think my real depressions started when I was about 16 and doing The Patty Duke Show. I would go to bed at about 10 o'clock on a Friday night and not get up again until 6:30 Monday morning