You never know the palette of the one you kill until the mind disgorges its finest colours.
Interpretation
Understanding the depth of a person comes only after experiencing the consequences of our actions towards them.
Anne Rice's quote highlights the idea that the true essence and complexity of a person are often revealed only after significant events, particularly those that are destructive or pivotal. The 'palette' symbolizes the diverse emotions, thoughts, and experiences that a person possesses, which we may overlook until we witness the results of our interactions with them. It suggests a profound reflection on human life and relationships, encouraging us to appreciate individuals before our actions lead to irreversible outcomes.
In practice
In a discussion about morality, this quote could serve as a reminder to consider the depth of individuals before making hasty decisions.
From my stone pillow I have dreamed dreams of the mortal world above. I have heard its voices, its new music, as lullabies as I lie in my grave. I have envisioned its fantastical discoveries. I have known its courage in the timeless sanctum of my thoughts. And though it shuts me out with its dazzling forms, I long for one with the strength to roam it fearlessly, to ride the Devil's Road through its heart.
We all suffer under a curse, the curse that we know more than we can endure, and there is nothing, absolutely nothing we can do about the force and the lure of this knowledge.
And so this young one, this young one whom I had so loved, I had to forsake, no matter how broken my heart, no matter how lonely my soul, no matter how bruised my intellect and spirit.
Dear God, help me. Do not forget me on this tiny cinder lost in a galaxy that is lostβa heart no bigger than a speck of dust beating, beating against death, against meaninglessness, against guilt, against sorrow.
The vampires have always been metaphors for me. They've always been vehicles through which I can express things I have felt very, very deeply.
In the very depths of Hell, do not demons love one another?
Water is the softest thing, yet it can penetrate mountains and earth. This shows clearly the principle of softness overcoming hardness.
Even while writing about foreign places, I have been in a way writing about America, because that's the subject that interests me the most. I'm attached to it, critical, but it's definitely my country, and maybe even more so when I'm overseas.
A life spent entirely in public, in the presence of others, becomes, as we would say, shallow. While it retains its visibility, it loses its quality of rising into sight from some darker ground which must remain hidden if it is not to lose its depth in a very real, non-subjective sense.
People working on bigger ideas on a more protracted timeline will be more on the stealth side. They arenβt releasing new PR announcements every day. The bigger the secret and the likelier it is that you alone have it, the more time you have to execute. There may be far more people going after hard secrets than we think.
Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.
If something can corrupt you, you're corrupted already.
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