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What feeling feels like over time. An attempt to screw up what feeling feels like over time. Heartbreak and a high C.... The often welcome melodic lie.... The soul's undersong. The orchestration of randomness, a flirtation with the boundaries of silence and space.... a reminder that the self wants to disappear, be taken away from itself and returned.
Stephen Dunn
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote reflects the complex nature of feelings over time, particularly heartbreak and the desire for transcendence.

This quote explores the intricate relationship between feelings and time, particularly in the context of heartbreak. It delves into the way emotions can evolve, often intertwining with the desire to escape one's own self, suggesting that through the chaos and randomness of life, there is a search for meaning in silence and a deeper understanding of one's emotional landscape.

Themes

EmotionHeartbreakTranscendenceSilenceTime

In practice

Example use cases

In a speech about the complexities of human emotion, one might quote this to highlight the evolution of feelings over time.

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Connubial Because with alarming accuracy she’d been identifying patterns I was unaware of—this tic, that tendency, like the way I've mastered the language of intimacy in order to conceal how I felt— I knew I was in danger of being terribly understood.
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I make myself up from everything I am, or could be. For many years I was more desire than fact. When I stop becoming, that’s when I worry.
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