QuoteProject
Atticus said that Jem was trying hard to forget something, but what he was really doing was storing it away for a while, until enough time passed. Then he would be able to think about it and sort things out. When he was able to think about it, Jem would be himself again.
Harper Lee
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote emphasizes the importance of processing emotions and memories over time.

This quote illustrates the concept of emotional storage and healing. It suggests that individuals may not be ready to confront certain memories or feelings immediately; rather, they need time to process these experiences before they can fully understand and integrate them into their lives. It highlights the journey of self-discovery and the need for patience in personal growth.

Themes

EmotionsHealingMemoryTimeSelf-Discovery

In practice

Example use cases

In a workshop on personal development, highlighting this quote can remind participants that healing is a process.

More from Harper Lee

They're ugly, but those are the facts of life.
Harper LeeRead
It's better to be silent than to be a fool.
Harper LeeRead
Don’t talk like that, Dill,” said Aunt Alexandra. “It’s not becoming to a child. It’s – cynical.” “I ain’t cynical, Miss Alexandra. Tellin’ the truth’s not cynical, is it?” “The way you tell it, it is.
Harper LeeRead
With him, life was routine; without him, life was unbearable.
Harper LeeRead
He turned out the light and went into Jem's room. He would be there all night, and he would be there when Jem waked up in the morning.
Harper LeeRead
You can choose your friends but you sho' can't choose your family, an' they're still kin to you no matter whether you acknowledge 'em or not, and it makes you look right silly when you don't.
Harper LeeRead

Similar quotes

Wait by the river long enough and the body of your enemy will float by you.
Sun TzuRead
A vocabulary of truth and simplicity will be of service throughout your life.
Winston ChurchillRead
Be deaf, be blind, be dead to gossip, and it will grow disgusted with you and select a more sensitive victim.
Charles SpurgeonRead
To be silent the whole day long, see no newspaper, hear no radio, listen to no gossip, be thoroughly and completely lazy, thoroughly and completely indifferent to the fate of the world is the finest medicine a man can give himself.
Henry MillerRead
Readers no longer need novelists to tell us what it's like to cross the world on a ship or fight a war. In the twenty-first century, we get that information in other ways. The thing that's still a mystery to us is the human heart. What we want is to understand people, what they're doing, and why they're doing it.
Walter MosleyRead
We have faith that future generations will know here, in the middle of the twentieth century, there came a time when men of good will found a way to unite, and produce, and fight to destroy the forces of ignorance, and intolerance, and slavery, and war.
Franklin D. RooseveltRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.