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Oh literature, oh the glorious Art, how it preys upon the marrow in our bones. It scoops the stuffing out of us, and chucks us aside. Alas!
D. H. Lawrence
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Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote reflects the profound impact of literature on the human experience, suggesting it can deeply affect and transform us.

D. H. Lawrence's quote captures the powerful and sometimes brutal effects of literature on the human psyche. It suggests that literature, as an art form, reaches into our very essence, stripping away our superficial layers and revealing our innermost selves, often leaving us feeling exposed and vulnerable. This intensity of experience is both glorious and painful, highlighting literature's ability to profoundly shape our thoughts and emotions.

Themes

LiteratureArtEmotionHuman ExperienceTransformation

In practice

Example use cases

During a book club discussion, to emphasize the powerful impact of a novel's themes.

More from D. H. Lawrence

God how I hate new countries: They are older than the old, more sophisticated, much more conceited, only young in a certain puerile vanity more like senility than anything.
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A young man is afraid of his demon and puts his hand over the demon's mouth sometimes and speaks for him. And the things the young man says are very rarely poetry.
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And besides, look at elder flowers and bluebells-they are a sign that pure creation takes place - even the butterfly. But humanity never gets beyond the caterpillar stage -it rots in the chrysalis, it never will have wings.It is anti-creation, like monkeys and baboons.
D. H. LawrenceRead
The Christian fear of the pagan outlook has damaged the whole consciousness of man.
D. H. LawrenceRead
The cosmos is a vast living body, of which we are still parts. The sun is a great heart whose tremors run through our smallest veins. The moon is a great nerve center from which we quiver forever. Who knows the power that Saturn has over us, or Venus? But it is a vital power, rippling exquisitely through us all the time.
D. H. LawrenceRead
... he preferred his own madness, to the regular sanity. He rejoiced in his own madness, he was free. He did not want that old sanity of the world, which was become so repulsive. He rejoiced in the new-found world of his madness. It was so fresh and delicate and so satisfying.
D. H. LawrenceRead

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