"I was with somebody else at the time, who I left - one, because I didn't really want to be with that person, and two, because I felt I'd had so much tragedy I needed to go off, go crazy, and maybe live on the outside for a while"
About this Quote
The line that really does the cultural work is "go crazy". She uses the phrase the way pop culture uses it: as shorthand for acting out, burning down a version of yourself, refusing the polite script. But she doesn't glamorize it; she positions it as a need, not a thrill. "Live on the outside" is a quiet indictment of the inside - the sanctioned spaces, the industry rooms, the relationships that ask you to be manageable. Outsideness becomes both exile and agency, a self-imposed witness protection program.
In the context of McGowan's public story - a celebrity body made available for consumption, a voice later associated with speaking about abuse and power - the quote reads like a prelude to reinvention. It's not about romantic turbulence; it's about refusing the role of "well-adjusted survivor". The subtext: if tragedy is your baseline, stability can feel like another performance, and chaos can look like honesty.
Quote Details
| Topic | Heartbreak |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
McGowan, Rose. (2026, January 16). I was with somebody else at the time, who I left - one, because I didn't really want to be with that person, and two, because I felt I'd had so much tragedy I needed to go off, go crazy, and maybe live on the outside for a while. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-was-with-somebody-else-at-the-time-who-i-left-134633/
Chicago Style
McGowan, Rose. "I was with somebody else at the time, who I left - one, because I didn't really want to be with that person, and two, because I felt I'd had so much tragedy I needed to go off, go crazy, and maybe live on the outside for a while." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-was-with-somebody-else-at-the-time-who-i-left-134633/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I was with somebody else at the time, who I left - one, because I didn't really want to be with that person, and two, because I felt I'd had so much tragedy I needed to go off, go crazy, and maybe live on the outside for a while." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-was-with-somebody-else-at-the-time-who-i-left-134633/. Accessed 18 Feb. 2026.



