When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease - of joy that kills.
Interpretation
The quote suggests that overwhelming joy can lead to an emotional or physical collapse, akin to death.
In this quote from Kate Chopin, the narrator reflects on the tragic irony that a person could die from experiencing such profound joy that it overwhelms their heart. It highlights the paradox of human emotions, illustrating how joy, when felt too intensely or without balance, can ultimately lead to despair or loss.
In practice
This quote can be used in a eulogy to reflect on the deceased's capacity for joy.
She looked into the distance, and the old terror flamed up for an instant, then sank again. Edna heard her father's voice and her sister Margaret's. She heard the barking of an old dog that was chained to the sycamore tree. The spurs of the cavalry officer clanged as he walked across the porch. There was the hum of bees, and the musky odor of pinks filled the air. (last lines)
There were days when she was unhappy, she did not know why,--when it did not seem worthwhile to be glad or sorry, to be alive or dead; when life appeared to her like a grotesque pandemonium and humanity like worms struggling blindly toward inevitable annihilation.
She's got some sort of notion in her head concerning the eternal rights of women.
Well, for instance, when I left her today, she put her arms around me and felt my shoulder blades, to see if my wings were strong, she said.
I would give up the unessential; I would give my money, I would give my life for my children; but I wouldn't give myself.
There would be no one there to live for her during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistance with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature. A kind intention or a cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of illumination.
The moment you fall in love feels like it has centuries behind it, generations - all of them rearranging themselves so this precise, remarkable intersection could happen. In your heart, in your bones, no matter how silly you know it is, you feel that everything has been leading to this, all the secret arrows were pointing here, the universe and time itself crafted this long ago, and you are just now realizing it, you are just now arriving at the place you were always meant to be.
So if we love someone, we should train in being able to listen. By listening with calm and understanding, we can ease the suffering of another person. [True Love. A Practice for Awakening the Heart.]
Venus, thy eternal sway_x000D_ _x000D_ All the race of men obey._x000D_ _x000D_ Euripides, Iphigenia in Aulis._x000D_ _x000D_ He is not a lover who does not love for ever.
Falling in love you remain a child; rising in love you mature. By and by love becomes not a relationship, it becomes a state of your being. Not that you are in love - now you are love.
My grandfather died when I was 12, but I remember the sorrow of my mother. Even now, she's an old lady, but when she speaks about her father, she looks young. A love like that is undefeated, you know?
There are many kinds of smiles, each having a distinct character. Some announce goodness and sweetness, others betray sarcasm, bitterness and pride; some soften the countenance by their languishing tenderness, others brighten by their spiritual vivacity.
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