Death is contagious; it is contracted the moment we are conceived.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that the awareness of mortality begins at the moment of life itself.
Madeleine L'Engle's quote touches on the profound idea that the concept of death is integral to life. From the very moment of conception, we are aware, even if unconsciously, of the inevitability of our mortality. This existential awareness shapes our experiences, influences our choices, and adds depth to our understanding of life and its fleeting nature.
In practice
In a reflective conversation about life and mortality at a family reunion, this quote could spark a deeper discussion about the human experience.
Truth is what is true, and it's not necessarily factual. Truth and fact are not the same thing. Truth does not contradict or deny facts, but it goes through and beyond facts. This is something that it is very difficult for some people to understand. Truth can be dangerous.
George MacDonald gives me renewed strength during times of trouble--times when I have seen people tempted to deny God--when he says, "The Son of God suffered unto death, not that men might not suffer, but that their sufferings might be like his.
If you don't recount your family history, it will be lost. Honor your own stories and tell them too. The tales may not seem very important, but they are what binds families and makes each of us who we are.
I never want to lose the story-loving child within me, or the adolescent, or the young woman, or the middle-aged one, because all together they help me to be fully alive on this journey, and show me that I must be willing to go where it takes me, even through the valley of the shadow.
The minute we begin to think we have all the answers, we forget the questions.
When we believe in the impossible, it becomes possible, and we can do all kinds of extraordinary things.
What cannot be talked about cannot be put to rest. And if it is not, the wounds will fester from generation to generation.
Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives. I think we're being run by maniacs for maniacal ends and I think I'm liable to be put away as insane for expressing that. That's what's insane about it.
At least I know I'm bewildered about the really fundamental and important facts of the universe.
In physics the truth is rarely perfectly clear, and that is certainly universally the case in human affairs. Hence, what is not surrounded by uncertainty cannot be the truth.
Ordinary women attempt to change our bodies to resemble a pornographic ideal. Ordinary women construct a false self and come to hate this self.
Only the children know what they are looking for. They waste their time over a rag doll and it becomes very important to them; and if anybody takes it away from them, they cry.
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