How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Perhaps it was a passing moment of madness after all. There is no trace of it left anymore. (1.10)
When Antoine first experiences his feelings of "Nausea," he thinks that he might be falling into mental illness. But the feeling quickly passes, and he makes the mistake of thinking that it will never come back. But guess what? It will.
Quote #2
I'm going to bed. I'm cured. I'll give up writing my daily impressions, like a little girl in her nice new notebook. (1.14)
Antoine starts writing a diary in order to cope with the disorder that mental illness has brought into his daily life. But the moment his boredom and despair leave him, he thinks he's cured and that the worst is over. He even thinks he's been silly for writing a diary, comparing himself to a "little girl" writing in a notebook. Little does Antoine know that his struggles with "Nausea" are going to define him for the rest of this book.
Quote #3
I know all that, but I know there is something else. Almost nothing. But I can't explain what I see. To anyone. There: I am quietly slipping into the water's depths, towards fear. (3.16)
When his feelings of fear and disgust come back, Antoine has trouble putting his experience into words. The reason for this is because his fear exists on a level beneath language, on the level of pure existence, which for him is "almost nothing." As he slips further into this experience, his main feeling is fear. Again, we're forced to ask ourselves whether he is really coming to new intellectual truths… or if he is just losing his mind.