QuoteProject
Now Coraline," said Miss Spink, "what's your name?" "Coraline," said Coraline. "And we don't know each other, do we?" Coraline looked at the thin young woman with black button eyes and shook her head slowly.
Neil Gaiman
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote reflects on identity and the unknown connections between individuals.

In this interaction between Coraline and Miss Spink, the emphasis is on the exploration of identity and the recognition of unfamiliarity. It highlights how names and appearances can mask deeper connections and experiences that are yet to be discovered, prompting a contemplation of the nature of relationships and self-awareness.

Themes

IdentityRelationshipsSelf-AwarenessUnderstandingConnections

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion about character development in literature, this quote can illustrate the theme of identity.

More from Neil Gaiman

A short story is the ultimate close-up magic trick -- a couple of thousand words to take you around the universe or break your heart.
Neil GaimanRead
Jesus. Low-Key Lyesmith," said Shadow. and then he heard what he was saying and he understood. "Loki," he said. "Loki Lie-smith." "You're slow," said Loki, "but you get there in the end." And his lips twisted into a scarred smile and the embers danced in the shadows of his eyes.
Neil GaimanRead
As a teenager I wrote to R.A. Lafferty. And he responded, too, with letters that were like R.A. Lafferty short stories, filled with elliptical answers to straight questions and simple answers to complicated ones.
Neil GaimanRead
The important thing to understand about American history, wrote Mr. Ibis, in his leather-bound journal, is that it is fictional, a charcoal-sketched simplicity for the children, or the easily bored.
Neil GaimanRead
Nothing’s changed. You’ll go home. You’ll be bored. You’ll be ignored. No one will listen to you, really listen to you. You’re too clever and too quiet for them to understand. They don’t even get your name right.
Neil GaimanRead
I like the stars. It's the illusion of permanence, I think. I mean, they're always flaring up and caving in and going out. But from here, I can pretend...I can pretend that things last. I can pretend that lives last longer than moments. Gods come, and gods go. Mortals flicker and flash and fade. Worlds don't last; and stars and galaxies are transient, fleeting things that twinkle like fireflies and vanish into cold and dust. But I can pretend.
Neil GaimanRead

Similar quotes

The history of Rome presents various men of greater genius than Scipio Aemilianus, but none equalling him in moral purity, in the utter absence of political selfishness, in generous love of his country, and none, perhaps, to whom destiny has assigned a more tragic part.
Theodor MommsenRead
One might call habit a moral friction: something that prevents the mind from gliding over things but connects it with them and makes it hard for it to free itself from them.
Georg C. LichtenbergRead
At times I feel myself overtaken by an immense tenderness for these people around me who live in the same century.
Albert CamusRead
See, if you look at the drug war from a purely economic point of view, the role of the government is to protect the drug cartel. That's literally true.
Milton FriedmanRead
The sorcerer's description of the world is perceivable. But our insistence on holding on to our standard version of reality renders us almost deaf and blind to it.
Carlos CastanedaRead
Order and disorder', said the speaker, 'they each have their beauty.
Orson Scott CardRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.