Dreams are shores where the ocean of spirit meets the land of matter. Dreams are beaches where the yet-to-be, the once-were, the will-never-be may walk awhile with the still-are.
We looked at each other for the last time; nothing is as eloquent as nothing.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on a poignant silent farewell between two individuals, emphasizing the profound communication that can occur without words.
David Mitchell's quote captures the idea that sometimes the most powerful expressions of emotion occur in silence. The 'last time' signifies a moment of finality in a relationship, suggesting that the absence of words can convey deep feelings of loss or closure more eloquently than verbal communication ever could. It highlights the profound impact of nonverbal cues in human connections, illuminating the complexities of relationships and farewells.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a heartfelt speech at a farewell party, one might say, 'As we part ways, I remember our last moments together. Sometimes, the truth lies in silence.'
More from David Mitchell
All quotes →The Revelation of Sonmi 451 To be is to be perceived, and so to know thyself is only possible through the eyes of the other. The nature of our immortal lives is in the consequences of our words and deeds, that go on and are pushing themselves throughout all time. - Our lives are not our own. From womb to tomb, we are bound to others, past and present, and by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future.
…and there, in the background, the sky’s sediment had sunk to a place where all the woe of the words ‘I am’ dissolved into blue peace. He said it. ‘The ocean.
How vulgar, this hankering after immortality, how vain, how false. Composers are merely scribblers of cave paintings. One writes music because winter is eternal and because, if one didn't, the wolves and blizzards would be at one's throat all the sooner.
. . .my dreams are the single unpredictable factor in my zoned days and nights. Nobody allots them, or censors them. Dreams are all I have ever truly owned.
My life amounts to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean. Yet what is any ocean, but a multitude of drops?
Similar quotes
Sara waited a respectful time, knowing there was nothing she could do to ease the woman's pain. Grief was a place, Sara understood, where a person went alone. It was like a room without doors, and what happened in that room, all the anger and the pain you felt, was meant to stay there, nobody's business but yours.
I still hear you humming, Mama. The colour of your song calls me home. The colour of your words saying, Let her be. She got a right to be different. She gonna stumble on herself one of these days. Just let the child be. And I be, Mama.
You go into a room and you know where you're welcome; you know where you're unwelcome.Sometimes in a hostile situation you stick around because hostility itself is important.The people who are garrulous and wear their heart on their sleeve and tell you everything, that's one kind of person, but the fellow who's hiding behind a tree and hoping you don't see him is the fellow that you'd better find out why.
If he was a good man, how could he leave me? So he must not be a good man. But if he isn't good, then why does it hurt so much to lose him?
Matrimony is the union of meanness and martyrdom.
It's very rare to have a patient who isn't absolutely delighted when you say, 'I read your feedback. The session didn't go well. You actually got more upset, and I made about three really horrible errors.' If you do that from the heart and not as a gimmick, boy, it's a wonderful thing.