I asked her to look at me and after a few moments - (pause) - after a few moments she did, but the eyes just slits, because of the glare I bent over her to get them in the shadow and they opened. (Pause. Low) Let me in.
Samuel BeckettRead
My dear Tom, Delighted to get your letter. Do write again. This life is terrible and I don't understand how it can be endured.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Life can often feel overwhelming and difficult to endure, leading to confusion and despair.
In this quote by Samuel Beckett, the speaker expresses a profound sense of despair and a struggle to comprehend the hardships of life. The mention of a letter indicates a longing for connection, suggesting that sharing such feelings can be a solace amidst the terrors of existence. This acknowledgment of lifeβs terribleness invites reflection on human resilience and the necessity of companionship in navigating difficult times.
Themes
LifeDespairConnectionEnduranceHardship
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about mental health, one could reference Beckett's quote to highlight the struggles many face.
More from Samuel Beckett
All quotes βNothing happens. Nobody comes, nobody goes. It's awful.
Samuel BeckettRead
I shall state silences more competently than ever a better man spangled the butterflies of vertigo.
Samuel BeckettRead
And what I have, what I am, is enough, was always enough for me, and as far as my dear little sweet little future is concerned I have no qualms, I have a good time coming.
Samuel BeckettRead
I love order. It's my dream. A world where all would be silent and still, and each thing in its last place, under the last dust.
Samuel BeckettRead
We lose our hair, our teeth! Our bloom, our ideals.
Samuel BeckettRead
Similar quotes
When doctors tell you that your only hope for survival is 14 straight days of intense chemotherapy, 24 hours a day, you sit there, and you count down the 336 hours. You see, each day is a blessing.
Craig SagerRead
Modern women are just bombarded. There's nothing but media telling us we're all supposed to be great cooks, have great style, be great in bed, be the best mothers, speak seven languages, and be able to understand derivatives. And we don't really have women we're modeling after, so we're all looking for how to do this.
Jamie Lee CurtisRead
It was a meditation on life, love, old age, death: ideas that had often fluttered around her head like nocturnal birds but dissolved into a trickle of feathers when she tried to catch hold of them.
Gabriel Garcia MarquezRead
The worst time was 1983. Love and life and everything went wrong. I reached absolute rock bottom. I saw the Minotaur at the bottom of the abyss. I learnt of the harshness of the world and its impartiality to human failure.
Ben OkriRead
We think of bulimia and anorexia as either a bizarre psychosis, or as a quirky little habit, a phase, or as a thing that women just do. We forget that it is a violent act, that it bespeaks a profound level of anger toward and fear of the self.
Marya HornbacherRead
The unexpected and the incredible belong in this world. Only then is life whole.
Carl JungRead