At the back of my mind I had a sense of us sitting about waiting for some terrible event, and then I would remember that it had already happened.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the anticipation of a future disaster while acknowledging that the worst has already occurred.
This quote by Ian McEwan delves into the psychological state of living in dread of future misfortunes, suggesting that this anxiety can be rooted in past trauma. It highlights an individual's struggle with the weight of prior experiences, leading to a perpetual state of waiting for calamity, although the true catastrophe may have already been faced, emphasizing the complexity of human emotion and memory.
In practice
In a speech about resilience, one could use this quote to illustrate how past experiences shape our fears and perceptions of the future.
Watching him during the first several minutes of his delivery, Cecilia felt a pleasant sinking sensation in her stomach as she contemplated how deliciously self-destructive it would be, almost erotic, to be married to a man so nearly handsome, so hugely rich, so unfathomably stupid. He would fill her with his big-faced children, all of them loud, boneheaded boys with a passion for guns and football and aeroplanes.
My needs were simple I didn't bother much with themes or felicitous phrases and skipped fine descriptions of weather, landscapes and interiors. I wanted characters I could believe in, and I wanted to be made curious about what was to happen to them. Generally, I preferred people to be falling in and out of love, but I didn't mind so much if they tried their hand at something else. It was vulgar to want it, but I liked someone to say 'Marry me' by the end.
It marked the beginning and, of course, an end. At that moment a chapter, no, a whole stage of my closed. Had I known, and had there been a spare second or two, I might have allowed myself a little nostalgia.
There are ways in which art can have a longer reach than politics.
And now she was back in the world, not one she could make, but the one that had made her, and she felt herself shrinking under the early evening sky. She was weary of being outdoors, but she was not ready to go in. Was that really all there was in life, indoors or out? Wasn't there somewhere else for people to go?
Imagining what it is like to be someone other than yourself is at the core of our humanity. It is the essence of compassion, and it is the beginning of morality.
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.
It's crazy; in the States, people think the black power movement drew inspiration from Africa. All these Americans come over here looking for awareness. They don't realize they're the ones who've got it over there.
The world is a sacred vessel. It should not be meddled with. It should not be owned. If you try to meddle with it you will ruin it. If you try to own it you will lose it
Sometimes religion gets in the way of God.
Mankind censure injustice fearing that they may be the victims of it, and not because they shrink from committing it.
I always wanted to be a femme fatale. Even when I was a young girl, I never really wanted to be a girl. I wanted to be a woman.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.