Sadness is more or less like a head cold - with patience, it passes. Depression is like cancer.
Barbara KingsolverRead
April is the cruelest month, T.S. Eliot wrote, by which I think he meant (among other things) that springtime makes people crazy. We expect too much, the world burgeons with promises it can't keep, all passion is really a setup, and we're doomed to get our hearts broken yet again. I agree, and would further add: Who cares? Every spring I go out there anyway, around the bend, unconditionally. ... Come the end of the dark days, I am more than joyful. I'm nuts.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the complexities of hope and disappointment that spring brings, highlighting human resilience in the face of life's cyclical nature.
Barbara Kingsolver draws on T.S. Eliot's observation that while spring can feel cruel due to the high hopes it instills, leading to inevitable disappointment, she emphasizes an unconditional embrace of the season. Her perspective reveals a shared human experience: that despite knowing the potential for heartbreak, the joy and vitality of spring are worth the risk of emotional upheaval. Kingsolver ultimately champions a celebratory attitude towards life, valuing joy over fear of disappointment.
Themes
SpringDisappointmentJoyResilienceHope
In practice
Example use cases
During a spring retreat, you can quote this to inspire others to embrace the season despite uncertainties.
More from Barbara Kingsolver
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I'm of a fearsome mind to throw my arms around every living librarian who crosses my path, on behalf of the souls they never knew they saved.
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I did it to win love, and to prove myself capable. Not to move mountains. In my opinions, mountains don't move. They only look changed when you look down on them from great height.
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Memory is a complicated thing, a relative to truth, but not its twin.
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Empathy is really the opposite of spiritual meanness. It's the capacity to understand that every war is both won and lost. And that someone else's pain is as meaningful as your own.
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