11 Funny Quotes From Carrie Fisher, Who Taught Me to Embrace Humor in My Battle With Mental Illness

Mental illness is often so stigmatized and taken so seriously that I’ve found many people can forget there are actual human beings who are facing these battles on the daily. When we don’t see the individuals, it may be hard to recognize how humor can help us.

Carrie Fisher, however, knew exactly how helpful humor could be. She seemed to know if she took everything seriously all the time, she might not be able to face the constant battle of her mental illness. Humor seemed to be an outlet for her.

Carrie was most well-known for her role as Princess Leia/General Organa in the “Star Wars” movies, but she was also a mental health advocate, an author, a script doctor, and an unapologetic, exuberant personality. Additionally, she was a daughter, mother and friend. As such, it only seems fitting to honor her with some quotes.

1. “Ive stopped trying to take things a day at a time. I now take 2 or 3 days at once—hoping it’ll cause a blur effect & I might look younger” — @carrieffisher

2. “I love when folks say “& in my mind Im thinking”Alerting u where their latest thoughts began. So they dont think they came from a butt cheek” — @carrieffisher

3. “My daughter, she tells me when she grows up she wants to be a singer or a comic. I said ‘Well, baby, if you wanna be a comic, you gotta be a writer. But don’t worry, you’ve got tons of material: Your mother is a manic depressive drug addict. Your father’s gay. Your grandmother tap dances and your grandfather eats hearing aids.’ And my daughter laughs and laughs and laughs and I said, ‘Baby, the fact that you know that’s funny is gonna save your whole life.’” — Carrie Fisher, “Wishful Drinking”

4. “WhenUsay sum1 is down 2 earth, where R they down 2 earth FROM? &once Uve been spotted down there, can u go back2 the up zone &who’s up4 it?” — @carrieffisher

5. “See?i don’t know how to write someone privately…..Help me obi Juan whoever the fuck you are….
You’re my only ho” — @carrieffisher

6. “Sex=weird, no?14hrs after you had ur face pressed in2 sum 1’s genitals, ur both walking down the street as tho that was fine, thanx, howR u?” – @carrieffisher

7. “Oh! This’ll impress you — I’m actually in the Abnormal Psychology textbook. Obviously my family is so proud. Keep in mind though, I’m a PEZ dispenser and I’m in the Abnormal Psychology textbook. Who says you can’t have it all?” — Carrie Fisher, “Wishful Drinking”

8. “I get lots of awards for being mentally ill. Apparently, I am better at being mentally ill than almost anything else I’ve ever done. Seriously — I have a shelf of awards for being bipolar.”

9. “I’ve got to stop getting obsessed with human beings and fall in love with a chair. Chairs have everything human beings have to offer, and less, which is obviously what I need. Less emotional feedback, less warmth, less approval, less patience, and less response. The less the merrier. Chairs it is. I must furnish my heart with feelings for furniture.”

10. “If my life wasn’t funny, it would just be true, and that is unacceptable.” — @carrieffisher

11. “flabby buttocks” — @carrieffisher

And let us never forget that our hilarious space mom died drowning in moonlight, strangled by her own bra.

If you have some favorite quotes or stories not mentioned here, please feel free to share.

Image via Wikimedia Commons/Gage Skidmore.

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