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.
David MitchellRead
My life amounts to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean. Yet what is any ocean, but a multitude of drops?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the idea that individual contributions may seem small, yet they are essential to the larger whole.
David Mitchell's quote articulates a profound philosophical perspective on individuality and collective existence. It suggests that while one's life may seem insignificant in the grand scheme of things—like a single drop in a vast ocean—each drop is vital to the existence of the ocean as a whole. This metaphor emphasizes the importance of each person's contributions and how they collectively shape a greater reality, reinforcing the interconnectedness of existence.
Themes
IndividualityCollectiveExistenceContributionInterconnectedness
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about teamwork, this quote can highlight the importance of every member's role.
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.
David MitchellRead
…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.
David MitchellRead
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.
David MitchellRead
. . .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.
David MitchellRead
Human beings need to watch out for reasonless niceness too. It's never reasonless and its reason's not usually nice.
David MitchellRead
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