The deep joy we take in the company of people with whom we have just recently fallen in love is undisguisable.
John CheeverRead
To be an American and unable to play baseball is comparable to being a Polynesian and unable to swim.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the deep cultural significance of baseball in American identity, likening it to an essential skill in another culture.
John Cheever's quote captures the idea that certain cultural practices are integral to national identity. Just as swimming is a crucial skill for a Polynesian, baseball is an essential aspect of American culture. Being unable to participate in these activities signifies a disconnection from one's cultural roots and societal norms. Cheever highlights how important these elements are in shaping identity and belonging within a community.
Themes
BaseballCultureIdentityAmericanSwimming
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about American sports culture, one could use this quote to highlight the importance of baseball in the U.S.
More from John Cheever
All quotes βFor me a page of good prose is where one hears the rain. A page of good prose is when one hears the noise of battle.... A page of good prose seems to me the most serious dialogue that well-informed and intelligent men and women carry on today in their endeavor to make sure that the fires of this planet burn peaceably.
John CheeverRead
For me, a page of good prose is where one hears the rain and the noise of battle. It has the power to give grief or universality that lends it a youthful beauty.
John CheeverRead
The world that was not mine yesterday now lies spread out at my feet, a splendor. I seem, in the middle of the night, to have returned to the world of apples, the orchards of Heaven. Perhaps I should take my problems to a shrink, or perhaps I should enjoy the apples that I have, streaked with color like the evening sky.
John CheeverRead
What I am going to write is the last of what I have to say. I will say that literature is the only consciousness we possess and that its role as consciousness must inform us of our ability to comprehend the hideous danger of nuclear power.
John CheeverRead
Art is the triumph over chaos.
John CheeverRead
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