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?
A person may cause evil to others not only by his actions but by his inaction, and in either case he is justly accountable to them for the injury.
In order to speak about all and to all, one has to speak of what all know and of the reality common to us all. The sea, rains, necessity, desire, the struggle against death... these are things that unite us all.
The leech's kiss, the squid's embrace, The prurient ape's defiling touch: And do you like the human race? No, not much.
Without the restraints of religion and social worship, men become savages much sooner than savages become civilized by means of religion and civil government.
...'I thought the rule was that all monks were shaved.' 'Oh, Soto says he is bald under the hair,'said Lu Tze. 'He says the hair is a separate creature that just happens to live on him.
It is the awareness of unfulfilled desires which gives a nation the feeling that it has a mission and a destiny.
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