Heart, we will forget him, You and I, tonight! You must forget the warmth he gave, I will forget the light.
Emily DickinsonRead
Because I could not stop for death, He kindly stopped for me; The carriage held but just ourselves and immortality.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote personifies death as a considerate companion, suggesting a contemplative view of mortality as part of life’s journey.
In this quote, Emily Dickinson presents death not as something to fear, but as a gentle guide that leads us towards immortality. The imagery of a carriage ride suggests that life and death are intertwined, and even in death, there is a sense of continuity with the concept of immortality, inviting reflection on the nature of existence and the afterlife.
Themes
DeathMortalityImmortalityJourneyPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about the acceptance of death and the importance of living life fully.
More from Emily Dickinson
All quotes →I held a jewel in my fingers And went to sleep. The day was warm, and winds were prosy; I said: "'T will keep." I woke and chid my honest fingers,— The gem was gone; And now an amethyst remembrance Is all I own.
Emily DickinsonRead
I'll tell you how the sun rose, a ribbon at a time. The steeples swam in amethyst, The news like squirrels ran. The hills untied their bonnets, The bobolinks begun. Then I said softly to myself, "That must have been the sun!
Emily DickinsonRead
My best Acquaintances are those With Whom I spoke no Word
Emily DickinsonRead
This is the Hour of Lead- Remembered, if outlived, As freezing persons, recollect the Snow- First-Chill-then Stupor- then the letting go---
Emily DickinsonRead
Luck is not chance, it's toil; fortune's expensive smile is earned.
Emily DickinsonRead
Similar quotes
Forth from his dark and lonely hiding-place, (Portentous sight!) the owlet Atheism, sailing on obscene wings athwart the noon, drops his blue-fringed lids, and holds them close, and hooting at the glorious sun in Heaven, cries out, ''Where is it?''
Samuel Taylor ColeridgeRead
I freely chose the kind of life I led because I was convinced that a woman has as much right as a man to live the way she does if she does no actual harm to society.
Mae WestRead
There is no document of civilization which is not at the same time a document of barbarism.
Walter BenjaminRead
It was a catch-22: If you didn’t put the trauma behind you, you couldn’t move on. But if you did put the trauma behind you, you willingly gave up your claim to the person you were before it happened.
Jodi PicoultRead
There is no greater impediment to the advancement of knowledge than the ambiguity of words. To this chiefly it is owing that we find sects and parties in most branches of science [and politics]; and disputes that are carried on from age to age, without being brought to issue.
Thomas ReidRead
I build no system. I ask an end to privilege, the abolition of slavery, equality of rights, and the reign of law. Justice, nothing else; that is the alpha and omega of my argument: to others I leave the business of governing the world.
Pierre-Joseph ProudhonRead