Sadness is more or less like a head cold - with patience, it passes. Depression is like cancer.
Barbara KingsolverRead
Awareness is everything. Hallie once pointed out to me that people worry a lot more about the eternity *after* their deaths than the eternity that happened before they were born. But it's the same amount of infinity, rolling out in all directions from where we stand.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of awareness of both our existence and the infinite nature of time before and after life.
Barbara Kingsolver's quote highlights the human tendency to focus more on what happens after death compared to the eternity that existed before our birth. By pointing out that both periods represent an equal infinity, Kingsolver encourages us to expand our awareness beyond just our own lives, prompting a deeper reflection on existence and the continuum of time. This awareness can lead to a richer understanding of our place in the universe and the interconnectedness of all life.
Themes
AwarenessInfinityExistenceLifeDeathPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of mindfulness and living in the present, you can use this quote to emphasize awareness.
More from Barbara Kingsolver
All quotes →Children can be your heartache. But that doesn't matter, you have to go on and have them . . . it works out.
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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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