When silence is a choice, it is an unnerving presence. When silence is imposed, it is censorship.
Terry Tempest WilliamsRead
I write because it is dangerous, a bloody risk, like love, to form the words, to say the words, to touch the source, to be touched, to reveal how vulnerable we are, how transient.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Writing is an act of courage that exposes our vulnerabilities and the fleeting nature of life and love.
In this quote, Terry Tempest Williams expresses the idea that the act of writing is fraught with risk and danger, akin to the experience of love. By writing, one lays bare their innermost thoughts and feelings, revealing not only their vulnerabilities but also the transient nature of existence. This process can be both terrifying and liberating as it opens up a dialogue about human experiences and emotions.
Themes
WritingVulnerabilityLoveRiskExpression
In practice
Example use cases
A writer can use this quote in a workshop about the emotional risks of writing.
More from Terry Tempest Williams
All quotes →The human heart is the first home of democracy. It is where we embrace our questions: Can we be equitable? Can we be generous? Can we listen with our whole beings, not just our minds, and offer our attention rather than our opinion? And do we have enough resolve in our hearts to act courageously, relentlessly, without giving up, trusting our fellow citizens to join us in our determined pursuit-a living democracy?
Terry Tempest WilliamsRead
Once upon a time, when women were birds, there was the simple understanding that to sing at dawn, and to sing at dusk, was to heal the world through joy. The birds still remember what we have forgotten, that the world is meant to be celebrated.
Terry Tempest WilliamsRead
I am slowly, painfully discovering that my refuge is not found in my mother, my grandmother, of even the birds of Bear River. My refuge exists in my capacity to love. If I can learn to love death then I can begin to find refuge in change.
Terry Tempest WilliamsRead
How do we remain faithful to our own spiritual imagination and not betray what we know in our own bodies? The world is holy. We are holy. All life is holy.
Terry Tempest WilliamsRead
The Eyes of the Future are looking back at us and they are praying for us to see beyond our own time.
Terry Tempest WilliamsRead
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