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There are accents in the eye which are not on the tongue, and more tales come from pale lips than can enter an ear. It is both the grandeur and the pain of the remoter moods that they avoid the pathway of sound.
Thomas Hardy
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Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote suggests that some emotions and stories are conveyed through non-verbal expressions rather than spoken words.

Thomas Hardy highlights the importance of unspoken communication and the depth of emotions that can be felt but not articulated. He implies that certain feelings and experiences are too profound for words, residing instead in the silent accents of one's eyes and the subtleties of body language. This points to the complexity of human emotions and the limitations of language in fully capturing our inner experiences.

Themes

EmotionsCommunicationNon-VerbalExpressionMeaning

In practice

Example use cases

During a speech about the depth of human emotion, one might use this quote to emphasize the power of non-verbal communication.

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Her affection for him was now the breath and life of Tess's being; it enveloped her as a photosphere, irradiated her into forgetfulness of her past sorrows, keeping back the gloomy spectres that would persist in their attempts to touch her—doubt, fear, moodiness, care, shame. She knew that they were waiting like wolves just outside the circumscribing light, but she had long spells of power to keep them in hungry subjection there.
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The trees have inquisitive eyes, haven't they? -that is, seem as if they had. And the river says,-'Why do ye trouble me with your looks?' And you seem to see numbers of to-morrows just all in a line, the first of them the biggest and clearest, the others getting smaller and smaller as they stand further away; but they all seem very fierce and cruel and as if they said, 'I'm coming! Beware of me! Beware of me!
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Quote by Thomas Hardy | QuoteProject