It is my feeling that a story is not finished until it is read, and that the reader finishes it through his or her life experience, prejudices, worldview and thoughts.
Annie ProulxRead
If life was an arc of light that began in darkness, ended in darkness, the first part of his life had happened in ordinary glare. Here it was as though he had found a polarized lens that deepened and intensified all seen through it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that life's journey transitions from darkness to light, emphasizing the transformation of perspective that can enhance one's experience of life.
Annie Proulx's quote reflects on the nature of existence, portraying life as a progression from darkness through a phase of ordinary experiences, ultimately hinting at the potential for deeper understanding and intensity as one gains a clearer perspective. The metaphor of a polarized lens symbolizes the transformative power of perception, suggesting that with the right mindset, the mundane can become profound and vivid.
Themes
LifeDarknessLightPerspectiveTransformation
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about overcoming challenges, this quote can help illustrate the journey of finding clarity.
More from Annie Proulx
All quotes →No wonder, he thought, that the panhandle people were a godly lot, for they lived in sudden, violent atmospheres. Weather kept them humble.
Annie ProulxRead
You should write because you love the shape of stories and sentences and the creation of different words on a page. Writing comes from reading, and reading is the finest teacher of how to write.
Annie ProulxRead
I think it's important to leave spaces in a story for readers to fill in from their own experience.
Annie ProulxRead
If a piece of knotted string can unleash the wind, and if a drowned man can awaken, then I believe a broken man can heal.
Annie ProulxRead
But the only rhyme he could summon for 'out' was 'sauerkraut,' which lacked poetic glory. He let it go. The right line would come in time. That was the thing about poetry. It crept up through the draws and coulees of the brain.
Annie ProulxRead
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A solitary, unused to speaking of what he sees and feels, has mental experiences which are at once more intense and less articulate than those of a gregarious man.
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Every stone here sweats with suffering, I know that. I have never looked at them without a feeling of anguish. But deep in my heart I know that the most wretched among you have seen a divine face emerge from their darkness. That is the face you are asked to see.
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When tradition is thought to state the way things really are, it becomes the director and judge of our lives; we are, in effect, imprisoned by it. On the other hand, tradition can be understood as a pointer to that which is beyond tradition: the sacred. Then it functions not as a prison but as a lens.
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And certainly, the mistakes that we male and female mortals make when we have our own way might fairly raise some wonder that we are so fond of it.
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While I know myself as a creation of God, I am also obligated to realize and remember that everyone else and everything else are also God's creation.
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