"It's like you asked me about the depression thing: you grope towards an understanding of whatever it is your going through, and it's not personal, there are forces in play around you, and you seek to understand them and that way you can go on"
About this Quote
Then he swerves away from the self: “it’s not personal.” In the context of mental health, that’s a counterspell against shame. Depression loves to frame itself as a private moral failure; Geldof frames it instead as weather. “Forces in play around you” borrows the language of systems - social pressure, biology, grief, work, fame, whatever machinery is grinding in the background - without turning the speaker into a passive victim. He’s not absolving responsibility so much as redistributing blame away from character.
The intent is survival, not self-expression. “You seek to understand them and that way you can go on” is a pragmatic philosophy of endurance: meaning is less about insight than traction. The subtext is that explanation is a tool, not a trophy. For a public figure whose persona has long mixed rage, activism, and restlessness, this reads like hard-won moderation: don’t internalize the storm; map it, name it, and keep walking.
Quote Details
| Topic | Mental Health |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Geldof, Bob. (2026, January 17). It's like you asked me about the depression thing: you grope towards an understanding of whatever it is your going through, and it's not personal, there are forces in play around you, and you seek to understand them and that way you can go on. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/its-like-you-asked-me-about-the-depression-thing-44006/
Chicago Style
Geldof, Bob. "It's like you asked me about the depression thing: you grope towards an understanding of whatever it is your going through, and it's not personal, there are forces in play around you, and you seek to understand them and that way you can go on." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/its-like-you-asked-me-about-the-depression-thing-44006/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"It's like you asked me about the depression thing: you grope towards an understanding of whatever it is your going through, and it's not personal, there are forces in play around you, and you seek to understand them and that way you can go on." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/its-like-you-asked-me-about-the-depression-thing-44006/. Accessed 18 Feb. 2026.


