Bless you, my darling, and remember you are always in the heart - oh tucked so close there is no chance of escape - of your sister.
Katherine MansfieldRead
How idiotic civilization is! Why be given a body if you have to keep it shut up in a case like a rare, rare fiddle?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote critiques the constraints society places on individuals, comparing the body to a rare instrument kept hidden.
Katherine Mansfield's quote reflects on the absurdity of societal expectations that confine human expression and existence. She uses the metaphor of civilization treating the human body as a rare fiddle, suggesting that while we possess beautiful and unique capabilities, they are often stifled by societal norms, leading to a disconnected and unfulfilled life.
Themes
CivilizationBodyFreedomSocietyExpression
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about personal freedom, one might say, 'As Katherine Mansfield put it, how idiotic civilization is!'
More from Katherine Mansfield
All quotes βWhat can you do if you are thirty and, turning the corner of your own street, you are overcome, suddenly, by a feeling of bliss - absolute bliss - as though you'd suddenly swallowed a bright piece of that late afternoon sun and it burned in your bosom, sending out a little shower of sparks into every particle into every finger and toe?
Katherine MansfieldRead
What do you want most to do? That's what I have to keep asking myself, in the face of difficulties.
Katherine MansfieldRead
Could we change our attitude, we should not only see life differently, but life itself would come to be different.
Katherine MansfieldRead
I want, by understanding myself, to understand others. I want to be all that I am capable of becoming.
Katherine MansfieldRead
This is not a letter but my arms around you for a brief moment.
Katherine MansfieldRead
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