...we shall board our imagined ship and wildly sail among sacred islands of the mad till death shatters the fabulous stars and makes us real.
Sylvia PlathRead
I cannot life for life itself: but for the words which stay the flux. My life, I feel, will not be lived until there are books and stories which relive it perpetually in time. I forget too easily how it was, and shrink to the horror of the here and now, with no past and no future. Writing breaks open the vaults of the dead and the skies behind which the prophesying angels hide. The mind makes and makes, spinning its web.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses the idea that writing and storytelling give meaning to life and preserve memories.
In this quote, Sylvia Plath highlights the transformative power of writing, suggesting that life's true essence is captured through words and stories. She reflects on the impermanence of human existence, lamenting the fleeting nature of memory and the present moment. By creating literature, Plath believes that one can transcend the limitations of time, allowing one's experiences to endure and be revisited, thereby providing a sense of continuity and connection to the past.
Themes
WritingMemoryStoriesLifeExpression
In practice
Example use cases
This quote is perfect for a workshop on the importance of creative writing.
More from Sylvia Plath
All quotes →The hardest thing, I think, is to live richly in the present, without letting it be tainted & spoiled out of fear for the future or regret for a badly-managed past.
Sylvia PlathRead
It is as if my life were magically run by two electric currents: joyous positive and despairing negative--which ever is running at the moment dominates my life, floods it.
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You walked in, laughing, tears welling confused, mingling in your throat. How can you be so many women to so many people, oh you strange girl?
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I keep wanting to crawl back into the womb.
Sylvia PlathRead
It's the living, the eating, the sleeping that everyone needs. Ideas don't matter so much after all. My three best friends are Catholic. I can't see their beliefs, but I can see the things they love to do on earth. When you come right down to it, I do believe in the freedom of the individual.
Sylvia PlathRead
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