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It is madness. And if you don't know who you are, or if your real self has drifted away from you with the undertow, madness at least gives you an identity. It's the same with self-loathing. You're probably just normal and normal-looking but that's not a real identity, not the way ugliness is. Normality, just accepting that you're probably normal-looking, lacks the force field of self-disgust. If you don't know who you are, madness gives you something to believe in.

It is madness. And if you don't know who you are, or if your real self has drifted away from you with the undertow, madness at least gives you an identity. It's the same with self-loathing. You're probably just normal and normal-looking but that's not a real identity, not the way ugliness is. Normality, just accepting that you're probably normal-looking, lacks the force field of self-disgust. If you don't know who you are, madness gives you something to believe in.

Approximate author period: c. 1976 AD · modern

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Attribution & collection notes
Author or tradition
Emma Forrest
Attribution: attributed
Country attributed
Not established
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Historical period
Approximate author period: c. 1976 AD · modern
Approximate author-period evidence for Emma Forrest: documented birth year 1976; activity date not established. Wikidata Q3724640, inspected 2026-10-08. Not a quotation composition date or independent verification of attribution. Source: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3724640 (accessed 2026-10-08).
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Supplied reference C; CSV row 170728; supplied attribution, independently unverified

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