It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.
In general she had found that the main drawback in being a man was that conversations were less interesting.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Ursula K. Le Guin suggests that men often engaged in less stimulating conversations compared to women.
In this quote, Ursula K. Le Guin reflects on her experiences and observations regarding gender dynamics in conversation. She implies that conversations among men tend to lack the depth and variety that she associates with women's discussions, indicating a broader commentary on societal norms and expectations that shape how individuals communicate based on gender. This observation invites readers to consider the inherent value of diverse perspectives and the potential limitations of traditional male-dominated discussions.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about gender differences in communication, one might reference this quote to highlight conversational styles.
More from Ursula K. Le Guin
All quotes βIn 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.
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.
The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty; not knowing what comes next.
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.
When he found that the administrators were upset, he laughed. βDo they expect students not to be anarchists?β he said. βWhat else can the young be? When you are on the bottom, you must organize from the bottom up
Similar quotes
We spoke about our dreams and how we always felt safe in them, no matter how bad everthing else seemed. He told me it was one of the best days of his life and then he took out his gun. A .22 rifle. And he leaned forward and whispered, "Forgive me, Taylor Markham." Before I could ask how he knew my name and what I was to forgive him for he said, "Take care of my little girl." And then he told me to close my eyes. And I've been frightened to do just that ever since.
O men with sisters dear, O men with mothers and wives, It is not linen you 're wearing out, But human creatures' lives!
I don't wait for people to give me respect. I always give them respect.
I just want you to know,' said the girl, coldly, 'that whoever you are and whatever you intend with me, I shall give you no aid of any kind, nor shall I assist you, and I shall do whatever is in my power to frustrate your plans and devices.' And then she added, with feeling, 'Idiot.
If our sex life were determined by our first youthful experiments, most of the world would be doomed to celibacy. In no area of human experience are human beings more convinced that something better can be had only if they persevere.
For an instant she felt them, their identities, almost their substance, pass over her head like a wave. At some time she would be β or no, already she was like that too; she was one of them, her body the same, identical, merged with that other flesh that choked the air in the flowered room with its sweet organic scent; she felt suffocated by this thick sargasso-sea of femininity.