The real mystery is this strange need. Why can't we just hide it and shut up? Why do we have to blab? Why do human beings need to confess?
Ted HughesRead
A man dies ... only a few circles in the water prove that he was ever there. And even they quickly disappear. And when they're gone, he's forgotten, without a trace, as if he'd never even existed. And that's all.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Life is fleeting, and the impact of an individual's existence can be transient and soon forgotten.
This quote reflects existential themes, highlighting the ephemeral nature of human life and the legacy we leave behind. It suggests that although a person may make a small ripple in the world, these ripples fade quickly, emphasizing the inevitability of being forgotten and grappling with the question of what it truly means to exist.
Themes
ExistenceLegacyImpermanenceLifeMemory
In practice
Example use cases
During a eulogy, this quote could remind us to cherish the moments we have.
Similar quotes
Ela acreditava em anjo e, porque acreditava, eles existiam" | "She believed in angels, and, because she believed, they existed
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The true exercise of freedom is - cannily and wisely and with grace - to move inside what space confines - and not seek to know what lies beyond and cannot be touched or tasted.
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he looked to her like an absurd twentieth-century Hamlet, an indecisive figure so mesmerized by onrushing tragedy that he was helpless to divert its course or alter it in any way.
Stephen KingRead
In front of the photograph of my mother as a child, I tell myself: she is going to die: I shudder, like winnicott's psychotic patient, over a catastrophe which has already occurred. Whether or not the subject is already dead, every photograph is this catastrophe.
Roland BarthesRead