It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
If eternity had a season, it would be midsummer. Autumn, winter, spring are all change and passage, but at the height of summer the year stands poised. It's only a passing moment, but even as it passes the heart knows it cannot change.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the nature of time and eternity, suggesting that moments of stillness are precious yet transient.
Ursula K. Le Guin's quote invites reflection on the concept of eternity as it relates to our experiences of time. By describing midsummer as a metaphorical 'season of eternity,' she emphasizes moments of clarity and stillness amidst the inevitable changes of life. While the seasons represent transformation and the passage of time, the height of summer stands as a brief yet profound moment where one can appreciate the present without the turmoil of change, highlighting the value of embracing such timeless instances.
Themes
EternityChangeTimeSummerStillness
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of mindfulness, this quote can highlight the value of appreciating the present moment.
More from Ursula K. Le Guin
All quotes →In reading a novel, any novel, we have to know perfectly well that the whole thing is nonsense, and then, while reading, believe every word of it. Finally, when we're done with it, we may find - if it's a good novel - that we're a bit different from what we were before we read it, that we have changed a little... But it's very hard to say just what we learned, how we were changed.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
Reason is a faculty far larger than mere objective force. When either the political or the scientific discourse announces itself as the voice of reason, it is playing God, and should be spanked and stood in the corner.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty; not knowing what comes next.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
We read books to find out who we are. What other people, real or imaginary, do and think and feel... is an essential guide to our understanding of what we ourselves are and may become.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
When he found that the administrators were upset, he laughed. “Do they expect students not to be anarchists?” he said. “What else can the young be? When you are on the bottom, you must organize from the bottom up
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
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The mere physical man is like the ant crawling on the paper, who observes black lettering and attributes its production to the pen and nothing more.
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