Islands are metaphors of the heart, no matter what poet says otherwise.
Interpretation
The quote suggests that islands symbolize the emotional and inner states of individuals, despite differing interpretations from various poets.
In this quote, Jeanette Winterson expresses the idea that islands serve as powerful metaphors for the heart and emotions. They represent isolation, self-discovery, and the unique experiences that shape a person's innermost feelings. Although poets may have different views on the symbolism of islands, Winterson asserts the intrinsic connection between these landforms and our emotional landscapes, emphasizing the significance of personal interpretation in understanding one's heart.
In practice
In a speech about personal growth, one might say: 'As Jeanette Winterson beautifully states, ‘Islands are metaphors of the heart’ emphasizing the personal journey each of us goes through.'
What is remembered is not a deed in stone but a metaphor. Meta = above. Pheren = to carry. That which is carried above the literalness of life. A way of thinking that avoids the problems of gravity. The word won't let me down. The single word that can release me from all that unuttered weight.
Reading things that are relevant to the facts of your life is of limited value. The facts are, after all, only the facts, and the yearning passionate part of you will not be met there. That is why reading ourselves as a fiction as well as fact is so liberating. The wider we read the freer we become.
I have a list of titles that I leave at the [library] desk, because they are bound to be written some day, and it's best to be ahead of the queue.
Woolf wanted to say dangerous things in Orlando but she did not want to say them in the missionary position.
In that house, you will find my heart. You must break in, Henri, and get it back for me.' Was she mad? We had been talking figuratively. Her heart was in her body like mine. I tried to explain this to her, but she took my hand and put it against her chest. Feel for yourself.
History is a string full of knots, the best you can do is admire it, and maybe tie it up a bit more. History is a hammock for swinging and a game for playing.
Christ managed to boil down an awful lot of commandments to a few very simple rules for living. It's when you go backwards through the 'begats' and the Garden of Eden, and you start thinking, 'Hang on, that's a big punishment for eating one lousy apple... There's a human-rights issue.'
Print encourages a sense of closure, a sense that what is found in a text has been finalized, has reached a state of completion.
My films are expressive of a culture that has had the possibility of attaining material fulfillment while at the same time finding itself unable to accomplish the simple business of conducting human lives. We have been sold a bill of goods as a substitute for life. What is needed is reassurance in human emotions; a re-evaluation of our emotional capacities.
Nothing recedes like progress.
Distrust compassion; prefer dignity for yourself and others. Don't be afraid to be thought arrogant or selfish.
There has never been an 'original' sin: each is quite banal.
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