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
To every man his little cross. Till he dies. And is forgotten.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Everyone has their own burdens to bear throughout life, often unnoticed and unappreciated.
This quote by Samuel Beckett highlights the universal nature of suffering and individual struggles. It suggests that each person carries their own 'little cross' β a metaphor for personal challenges or hardships β which may go unseen by others and ultimately fade into oblivion after death. The somber tone reflects on the transient nature of life and the often overlooked pains we endure.
Themes
SufferingBurdenStruggleLifeExistence
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the hidden struggles of mental health, this quote could emphasize the importance of empathy.
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
It seems to me that to take a book of mine into his hands is one of the rarest distinctions that anyone can confer upon himself. I even assume that he removes his shoes when he does so-not to speak of boots.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
All thought must, directly or indirectly, by way of certain characters, relate ultimately to intuitions, and therefore, with us, to sensibility, because in no other way can an object be given to us.
Immanuel KantRead
Some tell me Preach the pure gospel! This reminds me that the Communist secret police also told me to preach Christ, but not to mention communism. Is it really so, that those who are for what is called a pure gospel are inspired by the same spirit as those of the Communist secret police?
Richard WurmbrandRead
I had four hundred thousand pages of continental philosophy and lit theory in my head. And by God, I was going to use it to prove to him that I was smarter than he was.
David Foster WallaceRead
The footnote would seem to be the smallest detail in a work of history. Yet it carries a large burden of responsibility, testifying to the validity of the work, the integrity (and the humility) of the historian, and to the dignity of the discipline.
Gertrude HimmelfarbRead
Wherever people gather for selfless ends, there is a vast augmentation of their individual capacities. Something wonderful, something momentous happens. An irresistible force begins to move, which, though we may not see it, is going to change our world. In this lies the power and the meaning of spiritual companionship.
Eknath EaswaranRead