If I said I was madly in love with you, I'd be lying and what's more, you'd know it.
Margaret MitchellRead
It's a curse - this not wanting to look on naked realities. Until the war, life was never more real to me than a shadow show on a curtain. And I preferred it so. I do not like the outlines of things to be too sharp. I like them gently blurred, a little hazy.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses a preference for illusion over harsh reality, suggesting that a blurred perception of life is more comforting.
Margaret Mitchell's quote reflects the idea that a clear view of reality can be burdensome and painful, especially in times of conflict or struggle. The speaker reveals a longing for a life that is more like a gentle illusion—where harsh truths are softened and life’s complexities are not starkly outlined, as this provides a sense of comfort and escape from the weight of reality.
Themes
RealityIllusionComfortPerceptionLife
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about coping with tragedy, this quote serves to illustrate how individuals might prefer comfort over the painful truths of their circumstances.
More from Margaret Mitchell
All quotes →You're like the thief who isn't the least bit sorry he stole, but is terribly, terribly sorry he's going to jail. - Rhett Butler
Margaret MitchellRead
Well, my dear, take heart. Some day, I will kiss you and you will like it. But not now, so I beg you not to be too impatient.
Margaret MitchellRead
men are so conceited they’ll believe anything that flatters them
Margaret MitchellRead
Oh, why was he so handsomely blond, so courteously aloof, so maddeningly boring with his talk about Europe and books and music and poetry and things that interested her not at all - and yet so desirable?
Margaret MitchellRead
All really nice girls wonder when men don't try to kiss them. They know they shouldn't want them to and they know they must act insulted if they do, but just the same, they wish the men would try.
Margaret MitchellRead
Similar quotes
The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown
H. P. LovecraftRead
Most children tell themselves stories in which they figure as powerful figures, enjoying the pleasures not only of the adult world as they conceive it but of a world of wonders unlike dull reality.
Gore VidalRead
What more ghastly image can be called up than that of a man betrayed by his body who, simply because he did not die in time, lives out the comedy while awaiting the end, face to face with that God he does not adore, serving him as he served life, kneeling before a void and arms outstretched toward a heaven without eloquence that he knows to be also without depth?
Albert CamusRead
Modern tyrants are terror managers. Do not allow your shock to be turned against your freedom.
Timothy D. SnyderRead
The kingdom is where the King reigns. If He is reigning in my heart, then the Kingdom of Heaven has come to me.
Eric LiddellRead
I do not know if you remember the tale of the girl who saves the ship under mutiny by sitting on the powder barrel with her lighted torch... and all the time knowing that it is empty? This has seemed to me a charming image of the women of my time. There they were, keeping the world in order... by sitting on the mystery of life, and knowing themselves that there was no mystery.
Isak DinesenRead