...we shall board our imagined ship and wildly sail among sacred islands of the mad till death shatters the fabulous stars and makes us real.
Sylvia PlathRead
What horrifies me most is the idea of being useless: well-educated, brilliantly promising, and fading out into an indifferent middle age.
Interpretation
The fear of becoming irrelevant despite having potential is deeply unsettling.
This quote by Sylvia Plath reflects a profound concern about the possibility of living a life that feels unfulfilled and pointless, especially for those who possess talent and education. It highlights the anxiety of not utilizing one's gifts and fading into a life of mediocrity, emphasizing the importance of purpose and meaningful contributions in the face of time's relentless passage.
In practice
In a motivational speech about finding one's passion and purpose.
...we shall board our imagined ship and wildly sail among sacred islands of the mad till death shatters the fabulous stars and makes us real.
The hardest thing, I think, is to live richly in the present, without letting it be tainted & spoiled out of fear for the future or regret for a badly-managed past.
It is as if my life were magically run by two electric currents: joyous positive and despairing negative--which ever is running at the moment dominates my life, floods it.
You walked in, laughing, tears welling confused, mingling in your throat. How can you be so many women to so many people, oh you strange girl?
I keep wanting to crawl back into the womb.
It's the living, the eating, the sleeping that everyone needs. Ideas don't matter so much after all. My three best friends are Catholic. I can't see their beliefs, but I can see the things they love to do on earth. When you come right down to it, I do believe in the freedom of the individual.
We thought we were being mature when we were only being safe. We imagined we were being responsible but were only being cowardly. What we called realism turned out to be a way of avoiding things rather than facing them.
I'm not perfect. But I'll always be real
When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy. When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.
I often think I can see it in myself and in other young writers, this desperate desire to please coupled with a kind of hostility to the reader.
There is no mistake; there has been no mistake; and there shall be no mistake.
The truth you believe and cling to makes you unavailable to hear anything new.
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