When they carried Jack in, Hill threw his coat over Jack's head, and I held his head to throw the coat over it. It wasn't repulsive to me for one moment - nothing was repulsive to me -
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Onassis describes a traumatic moment at JFK's assassination without emotional reaction at the time.
- In plain terms
- She felt no repulsion seeing the scene, just shock.
- What can you take from it?
- Trauma can numb emotional responses during crisis.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How do we react under extreme stress?
- What happens to memory in crisis?
Another view
Describing lack of feeling may be a defense mechanism rather than objective truth.
More from Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
His head was so beautiful. I tried to hold the top of his head down, maybe I could keep it in... but I knew he was dead.
Permalink to quote #24 These big Texas interns kept saying, 'Mrs. Kennedy, you come with us', they wanted to take me away from him... But I said 'I'm not leaving'... Dave Powers came…
Permalink to quote #26 They were gunning the motorcycles. There were these little backfires. There was one noise like that. I thought it was a backfire. Then next I saw Connally grab…
Permalink to quote #23
Related quotes
His head was so beautiful. I tried to hold the top of his head down, maybe I could keep it in... but I knew he was dead.
Jacqueline Kennedy OnassisJacqueline Kennedy Onassis quote #24 Finally, she broke her silence and spelled it out to Dr. Burkley. Kneeling, John Kennedy's personal physician indicated her ghastly skirt with a trembling hand…
William ManchesterWilliam Manchester quote #1 The old Old winds that blew When chaos was, what do They tell the clattered trees that I Should weep?
Adelaide CrapseyAdelaide Crapsey quote #1