...the routine of life goes on, whatever happens, we do the same things, go through the little performance of eating, sleeping, washing. No crisis can break through the crust of habit.
Daphne Du MaurierRead
She had to live in this bright, red gabled house with the nurse until it was time for her to die... I thought how little we know about the feelings of old people. Children we understand, their fears and hopes and make-believe.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the often overlooked emotions and experiences of elderly individuals compared to the more understood emotions of children.
Daphne Du Maurier expresses a poignant observation about aging and the isolation that can come with it. She highlights the disconnect between the perceptions of childhood, which are widely recognized and empathized with, and the complex feelings of old age, often neglected or misunderstood by younger generations. The imagery of living in a bright, red gabled house symbolizes the contrasting nature of life and death, where the vibrancy of the house belies the somber reality of approaching mortality.
Themes
ElderlyUnderstandingEmotionsMortalityAging
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about empathy in healthcare, this quote can highlight the importance of understanding the feelings of older patients.
More from Daphne Du Maurier
All quotes →here was a silence between them for a moment, and she wondered if all women, when in love, were torn between two impulses, a longing to throw modesty and reserve to the winds and confess everything, and an equal determination to conceal the love forever, to be cool, aloof, utterly detached, to die rather than admit a thing so personal, so intimate.
Daphne Du MaurierRead
We are all ghosts of yesterday, and the phantom of tomorrow awaits us alike in sunshine or in shadow, dimly perceived at times, never entirely lost.
Daphne Du MaurierRead
How pleasant,' Dona said, peeling her fruit; 'the rest of us can only run away from time to time, and however much we pretend to be free, we know it is only for a little while - our hands and our feet are tied.
Daphne Du MaurierRead
A familiar name on its own, however, does not carry its bearer far unless the talent is there, and the will to work.
Daphne Du MaurierRead
Here was the freedom I desired, long sought-for, not yet known Freedom to write, to walk, to wander, freedom to climb hills, to pull a boat, to be alone.
Daphne Du MaurierRead
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