...we shall board our imagined ship and wildly sail among sacred islands of the mad till death shatters the fabulous stars and makes us real.
Sylvia PlathRead
I have the choice of being constantly active and happy or introspectively passive and sad. Or I can go mad by ricocheting in between.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the importance of choice in our emotional state, emphasizing active happiness versus passive sadness.
Sylvia Plath's quote reflects on the struggle between choosing an active, joyful life and succumbing to introspection that leads to sadness. It suggests that in navigating our emotions, we have the power to choose our path; however, the indecision or oscillation between these states can lead to inner turmoil.
Themes
ChoiceHappinessSadnessIntrospectionEmotion
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about mental health.
More from Sylvia Plath
All quotes βThe hardest thing, I think, is to live richly in the present, without letting it be tainted & spoiled out of fear for the future or regret for a badly-managed past.
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It is as if my life were magically run by two electric currents: joyous positive and despairing negative--which ever is running at the moment dominates my life, floods it.
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You walked in, laughing, tears welling confused, mingling in your throat. How can you be so many women to so many people, oh you strange girl?
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I keep wanting to crawl back into the womb.
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It's the living, the eating, the sleeping that everyone needs. Ideas don't matter so much after all. My three best friends are Catholic. I can't see their beliefs, but I can see the things they love to do on earth. When you come right down to it, I do believe in the freedom of the individual.
Sylvia PlathRead
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