Each day, and the living of it, has to be a conscious creation in which discipline and order are relieved with some play and pure foolishness.
May SartonRead
May we agree that private life is irrelevant? Multiple, mixed, ambiguous at best - out of it we try to fashion the crystal clear, the singular, the absolute, and that is what is relevant; that is what matters.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Private life can be complex and varied, but our goal is to seek clarity and relevance in our expressions and actions.
In this quote, May Sarton highlights the complexity and ambiguity of private life, suggesting that while it can be filled with nuances, what truly matters is our pursuit of clarity and relevance in our public lives. We often attempt to distill our experiences into clear, meaningful expressions that resonate beyond our personal complexities, indicating a desire for connection and understanding amidst the chaos of life.
Themes
Private LifeClarityRelevanceExperienceUnderstanding
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in discussions about the balance between private and public personas.
More from May Sarton
All quotes βPain can make a whole winter bright, like fever, force us to live deep and hard.
May SartonRead
She became for me an island of light, fun, wisdom where I could run with my discoveries and torments and hopes at any time of day and find welcome.
May SartonRead
Wrinkles here and there seem unimportant compared to the Gestalt of the whole person I have become in this past year.
May SartonRead
Here life goes on, even and monotonous on the surface, full of lightning, of summits and of despair, in its depths. We have now arrived at a stage in life so rich in new perceptions that cannot be transmitted to those at another stage - one feels at the same time full of so much gentleness and so much despair - the enigma of this life grows, grows, drowns one and crushes one, then all of a sudden in a supreme moment of light one becomes aware of the sacred.
May SartonRead
I think of the trees and how simply they let go, let fall the riches of a season, how without grief (it seems) they can let go and go deep into their roots for renewal and sleep.... Imitate the trees. Learn to lose in order to recover, and remember that nothing stays the same for long, not even pain, psychic pain. Sit it out. Let it all pass. Let it go.
May SartonRead
Similar quotes
If Jesus had been killed twenty years ago, Catholic school children would be wearing little electric chairs around their necks instead of crosses.
Lenny BruceRead
Justice is a temporary thing that must at last come to an end; but the conscience is eternal and will never die.
Martin LutherRead
To live moment to moment is the life of meditation. Then life becomes spontaneous without any effort; then nobody can make you miserable, nobody can disappoint you, nobody can make you a failure because in the first place you were not trying to be a success; you were not asking the future to be in a certain way. So whatever happens, the next moment you can rejoice. It is always your victory.
RajneeshRead
Integrity doesn't come in degrees: low, medium, or high. You either have integrity or you don't.
Tony DungyRead
The mentality of mankind and the language of mankind created each other. If we like to assume the rise of language as a given fact, then it is not going too far to say that the souls of men are the gift from language to mankind. The account of the sixth day should be written: He gave them speech, and they became souls.
Alfred North WhiteheadRead
We are discreet sheep; we wait to see how the drove is going, and then go with the drove. We have two opinions: one private, which we are afraid to express; and another one - the one we use - which we force ourselves to wear to please Mrs. Grundy, until habit makes us comfortable in it, and the custom of defending it presently makes us love it, adore it, and forget how pitifully we came by it. Look at it in politics.
Mark TwainRead