Birds sing after a storm. Why shouldn't we?
I tell myself that God gave my children many gifts - spirit, beauty, intelligence, the capacity to make friends and to inspire respect. There was only one gift he held back - length of life.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects a mother's acknowledgment of the many gifts her children possess while lamenting the brevity of life.
In this quote, Rose Kennedy expresses a heartfelt sentiment about the gifts that her children possess, such as spirit, beauty, intelligence, and the ability to build friendships and command respect. However, she poignantly recognizes that despite these wonderful attributes, they are ultimately limited by the gift of life itself, which is finite. This reflects a deep understanding of both the blessings and limitations inherent in human existence.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech at a family reunion, this quote can remind everyone of the importance of cherishing family relationships.
More from Rose Kennedy
All quotes →Life isn't a matter of milestones, but of moments.
Birds sing after a storm; why shouldn't people feel as free to delight in whatever remains to them?
I would much rather be known as the mother of a great son than the author of a great book or the painter of a great masterpiece.
Birds sing after a storm; why shouldn't people feel as free to delight in whatever sunlight remains to them?
Similar quotes
The nature of impending fatherhood is that you are doing something that you're unqualified to do, and then you become qualified while doing it.
Thanksgiving. It proved you had survived another year with its wars, inflation, unemployment, smog, presidents. It was a grand neurotic gathering of clans: loud drunks, grandmothers, sisters, aunts, screaming children, would-be suicides. And don't forget indigestion. I wasn't different from anyone else: There sat the 18-pound bird on my sink, dead, plucked, totally disemboweled. Iris would roast it for me.
I'm a hard worker and love my work. I have felt pulled toward work. And it's a pull I have ferociously had to counter to make room for my family.
I was brought up in a family which valued natural history. Both my parents knew the names of all the British wildflowers, so as we went walking the country, I was constantly being exposed to a natural history sort of knowledge.
You cannot escape the fact that women mould your first five years, whether you like it or not. And I can't say I do like it very much.
The horrors of war, pale beside the loss of a mother