LadyAlekto, I understand that this quote is helpful to people. This topic is full of people saying that it makes them feel better, just like the last topic it was posted in was full of people saying it made them feel better. I realize the response to it has been almost unanimously positive.

But, while I realize that the original quote is very good and helpful, the story that is now used to frame the quote is almost certainly not true. The quote was not originally found in a therapists office where it 'saved lives'. It was found in a webcomic.

The weirdest thing is that the link in this topic actually gives both attributions simultaneously for the quote. Above the quote it gives the 'therapist's office' attribution, and below it is the actual, real, link to the webcomic that it truly comes from. It's bizarre that reality has become so much less important than what we want to believe. We are willing to overlook two completely contradictory statements if a story sounds good enough.

And moreover, I feel like one message that the current iteration of the quote sends is this: it doesn't really matter what we tell people who are mentally ill as long as it makes them feel better. Don't you agree that is wrong?

And yes, I appreciate the irony that now that this quote has become so popular, it may very well end up on a therapist's wall one day, and it may even be the reason someone in their office decides not to commit suicide. But surely you see that saying something might happen in the future is not the same as saying it has, actually and definitely, happened in the past, right?