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live in the space between chaos and shape. I walk the line that continually threatens to lose its tautness under me, dropping me into the dark pit where there is no meaning. At other times the line is so wired that it lights up the soles of my feet, gradually my whole body, until I am my own beacon, and I see then the beauty of newly created worlds, a form that is not random. A new beginning.
Jeanette Winterson
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Embrace the balance between chaos and order to find meaning and create beauty in life.

This quote conveys the struggle of existing between the extremes of chaos and structure. It illustrates how navigating this delicate balance can lead to moments of profound realization and creativity, transforming one's experience from darkness and meaninglessness to enlightenment and the birth of new ideas and beginnings.

Themes

ChaosOrderBalanceMeaningCreativityBeauty

In practice

Example use cases

In a motivational speech about finding one’s purpose.

More from Jeanette Winterson

What is remembered is not a deed in stone but a metaphor. Meta = above. Pheren = to carry. That which is carried above the literalness of life. A way of thinking that avoids the problems of gravity. The word won't let me down. The single word that can release me from all that unuttered weight.
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Reading things that are relevant to the facts of your life is of limited value. The facts are, after all, only the facts, and the yearning passionate part of you will not be met there. That is why reading ourselves as a fiction as well as fact is so liberating. The wider we read the freer we become.
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I have a list of titles that I leave at the [library] desk, because they are bound to be written some day, and it's best to be ahead of the queue.
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Woolf wanted to say dangerous things in Orlando but she did not want to say them in the missionary position.
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In that house, you will find my heart. You must break in, Henri, and get it back for me.' Was she mad? We had been talking figuratively. Her heart was in her body like mine. I tried to explain this to her, but she took my hand and put it against her chest. Feel for yourself.
Jeanette WintersonRead
History is a string full of knots, the best you can do is admire it, and maybe tie it up a bit more. History is a hammock for swinging and a game for playing.
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Quote by Jeanette Winterson | QuoteProject