Balm of the summer night, balm of the ordinary, imperial joy and sorrow of human existence, the dreamed as well as the lived— what could be dearer than this, given the closeness of death?
Louise GluckRead
17. The self ended and the world began. They were of equal size, commensurate, one mirrored the other. 18. The riddle was: why couldn't we live in the mind. The answer was: the barrier of the earth intervened.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the interconnectedness of the self and the world, suggesting that they mirror each other, yet the physical world creates a barrier to pure thought.
Louise Glück's quote explores the relationship between individual perception and the external world. It suggests that while our inner minds and the world outside are intricately linked, the tangible nature of reality imposes limits on our ability to fully realize and exist solely within our thoughts. This interplay raises profound questions about existence and consciousness, indicating that our understanding of life is shaped by both our internal reflections and our external surroundings.
Themes
SelfWorldMindBarrierExistenceReflection
In practice
Example use cases
In a philosophy class when discussing the nature of reality and self-awareness.
More from Louise Gluck
All quotes →I pretended indifference…even in the presence of love, in the presence of hunger. And the more deeply I felt, the less able I was to respond.
Louise GluckRead
I caution you as I was never cautioned: You will never let go, you will never be satiated. You will be damaged and scarred, you will continue to hunger. Your body will age, you will continue to need. You will want the earth, then more of the earth-- Sublime, indifferent, it is present, it will not respond. It is encompassing, it will not minister. Meaning, it will feed you, it will ravish you. It will not keep you alive.
Louise GluckRead
The Red Poppy The great thing is not having a mind. Feelings: oh, I have those; they govern me. I have a lord in heaven called the sun, and open for him, showing him the fire of my own heart, fire like his presence. What could such glory be if not a heart? Oh my brothers and sisters, were you like me once, long ago, before you were human? Did you permit yourselves to open once, who would never open again? Because in truth I am speaking now the way you do. I speak because I am shattered.
Louise GluckRead
He takes her in his arms He wants to say I love you, nothing can hurt you But he thinks this is a lie, so he says in the end You're dead, nothing can hurt you which seems to him a more promising beginning, more true.
Louise GluckRead
Toward his critics, the artist harbors a defensive ace: knowledge that the future will erase the present.
Louise GluckRead
Similar quotes
The judge weighs the arguments and puts a brave face on the matter, and since there must be a decision, decides as he can, and hopes he has done justice and given satisfaction to the community
Ralph Waldo EmersonRead
Food prices are often kept artificially high. The result is that the Millennium Development Goals set out by the United Nations at the start of the new millennium are not being reached. Fine words have not yet been turned into deeds.
Jonathan SacksRead
Already, he was dreaming of a refined solitude, a comfortable desert, a motionless ark in which to seek refuge from the unending deluge of human stupidity.
Joris-Karl HuysmansRead
We combat obstacles in order to get repose, and when got, the repose is insupportable.
Henry AdamsRead
The human race tends to remember the abuses to which it has been subjected rather than the endearments. What's left of kisses? Wounds, however, leave scars.
Bertolt BrechtRead
One has to reach to the absolute state of awareness: that is Zen. You cannot do it every morning for a few minutes or for half an hour and then forget all about it. It has to become like your heartbeat. You have to sit in it, you have to walk in it. Yes, you have even to sleep in it.
RajneeshRead