Sadness is more or less like a head cold - with patience, it passes. Depression is like cancer.
Barbara KingsolverRead
Now I'm starting to think he wasn't supposed to be my whole life, he was just this doorway to me.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the realization that a significant person in one's life may serve as a catalyst for personal growth rather than the entirety of one's existence.
In this quote, Barbara Kingsolver presents the idea that a significant relationship, while important, does not define a person's entire life. Instead, the individual’s experiences with that person can serve as a gateway to self-discovery and understanding, suggesting that personal growth and identity are often influenced by various connections rather than being defined by a singular one.
Themes
RelationshipsGrowthSelf-DiscoveryJourneyChange
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion on love and loss, this quote can be shared to highlight how relationships shape us.
More from Barbara Kingsolver
All quotes →Children can be your heartache. But that doesn't matter, you have to go on and have them . . . it works out.
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I'm of a fearsome mind to throw my arms around every living librarian who crosses my path, on behalf of the souls they never knew they saved.
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I did it to win love, and to prove myself capable. Not to move mountains. In my opinions, mountains don't move. They only look changed when you look down on them from great height.
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Memory is a complicated thing, a relative to truth, but not its twin.
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Empathy is really the opposite of spiritual meanness. It's the capacity to understand that every war is both won and lost. And that someone else's pain is as meaningful as your own.
Barbara KingsolverRead
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