It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
Now they came back to him, on this night he was seventeen years old. All the years and places of his brief broken life came within mind's reach and made a whole again. He knew once more, at last, after this long, bitter, waisted time, who he was and where he was. But where he must go in the years to come, that he could not see; and he feared to see it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on a moment of self-discovery and contemplation of one's past and uncertain future.
In this poignant reflection, the speaker, now seventeen, revisits the memories of his tumultuous life, experiencing a profound clarity about his identity and existence. Despite the regeneration of his past experiences into a cohesive understanding, he struggles with the unknown journey ahead, revealing a deep fear of the future and the challenges it might bring.
Themes
Self-DiscoveryIdentityFearFutureMemories
In practice
Example use cases
During a graduation speech to reflect on the past and look towards the future.
More from Ursula K. Le Guin
All quotes →In reading a novel, any novel, we have to know perfectly well that the whole thing is nonsense, and then, while reading, believe every word of it. Finally, when we're done with it, we may find - if it's a good novel - that we're a bit different from what we were before we read it, that we have changed a little... But it's very hard to say just what we learned, how we were changed.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
Reason is a faculty far larger than mere objective force. When either the political or the scientific discourse announces itself as the voice of reason, it is playing God, and should be spanked and stood in the corner.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty; not knowing what comes next.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
We read books to find out who we are. What other people, real or imaginary, do and think and feel... is an essential guide to our understanding of what we ourselves are and may become.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
When he found that the administrators were upset, he laughed. “Do they expect students not to be anarchists?” he said. “What else can the young be? When you are on the bottom, you must organize from the bottom up
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
Similar quotes
I'm OK. Much better than on other occasions. It's true that I've made lots of mistakes but I've never tried to bother anyone. I want to stay alive, preferably in peace, without seeing every one of my mistakes in the papers, and on many occasions, even stories that are lies.
George BestRead
Behind every sweet smile, there is a bitter sadness that no one can ever see and feel.
Tupac ShakurRead
We can't buy one minute of time with cash; if we could, rich people would live longer.
O. HenryRead
I knew a phoenix in my youth, so let them have their day.
William Butler YeatsRead
Enjoy the pregnancy, not racing ahead and relishing the moment. I think people see pregnancy as something to get over with, but every stage of becoming a mother is really special.
Olivia WildeRead
He got right down in the dark between heartbeats, and rested there. And then he saw that another one wasn't going to come. That's it. That's the last. He looked at the dark. I would like to take this opportunity, he said, to pray for another human being.
Denis JohnsonRead