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The last light, in the last window, went out. Only the unstoppable machine of the sea still tears away at the silence with the cyclical explosion of nocturnal waves, distant memories of sleepwalking storms and the shipwrecks of dream.
Alessandro Baricco
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote reflects on the interplay between human existence and the relentless power of nature.

Alessandro Baricco's quote captures a profound moment where all human activity seems to fade away, leaving only the persistent force of the sea. The imagery conjures a sense of stillness and isolation, contrasting the fleeting nature of dreams and memories with the unyielding, cyclical rhythms of the ocean, highlighting the often-overlooked beauty and turmoil of both the natural world and the human experience.

Themes

SeaSilenceWavesDreamsMemories

In practice

Example use cases

This quote could be used in a discussion about the impact of nature on human emotion during a literary reading.

More from Alessandro Baricco

Say the sea. Say the sea. Say the sea. So that perhaps a drop of that magic may wander through time, and something might find it, and save it before it disappears forever. Say the sea. Because it's what we have left. Because faced by the sea, we without crosses, without magic, we must still have a weapon, something, so as not to die in silence, that's all.
Alessandro BariccoRead

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