Written on the body is a secret code only visible in certain lights; the accumulations of a lifetime gather there
Interpretation
The quote suggests that our experiences and memories are inscribed on us, becoming visible only under certain circumstances.
Jeanette Winterson's quote speaks to the idea that our life experiences, emotions, and personal history are written on our bodies and souls, forming a unique narrative that is sometimes hidden and only revealed in specific moments or contexts. This secret code reflects the accumulation of our journeys, emotions, and identities, highlighting how we are shaped by our experiences and how they become a part of us.
In practice
At a graduation speech, one might use this quote to reflect on how experiences shape graduates.
What is remembered is not a deed in stone but a metaphor. Meta = above. Pheren = to carry. That which is carried above the literalness of life. A way of thinking that avoids the problems of gravity. The word won't let me down. The single word that can release me from all that unuttered weight.
Reading things that are relevant to the facts of your life is of limited value. The facts are, after all, only the facts, and the yearning passionate part of you will not be met there. That is why reading ourselves as a fiction as well as fact is so liberating. The wider we read the freer we become.
I have a list of titles that I leave at the [library] desk, because they are bound to be written some day, and it's best to be ahead of the queue.
Woolf wanted to say dangerous things in Orlando but she did not want to say them in the missionary position.
In that house, you will find my heart. You must break in, Henri, and get it back for me.' Was she mad? We had been talking figuratively. Her heart was in her body like mine. I tried to explain this to her, but she took my hand and put it against her chest. Feel for yourself.
History is a string full of knots, the best you can do is admire it, and maybe tie it up a bit more. History is a hammock for swinging and a game for playing.
The greatest thing in this world is not so much where we stand as in what direction we are moving.
Indeed, there is no such thing as an altogether ugly woman β or altogether beautiful.
My father (Danny Thomas) used to tell me there are two kinds of people, the takers and the givers. 'The takers sometimes eat better,' he would say, 'but the givers always sleep better.'
Men almost universally have acknowledged providence, but that fact has had no force to destroy natural aversions and fears in the presence of events.
Suffering, failure, loneliness, sorrow, discouragement, and death will be part of your journey, but the Kingdom of God will conquer all these horrors. No evil can resist grace forever.
To bear with patience wrongs done to oneself is a mark of perfection, but to bear with patience wrongs done to someone else is a mark of imperfection and even of actual sin.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.