QuoteProject
Old age comes on suddenly, and not gradually as is thought.
Emily Dickinson
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Old age can arrive unexpectedly rather than as a slow process.

Emily Dickinson reflects on the nature of aging, suggesting that the experience of becoming old is often more abrupt than people realize. This quote challenges the common perception that aging is a gradual transition, emphasizing the suddenness with which time can alter our lives and experiences.

Themes

AgingOld AgeTimeLifePerception

In practice

Example use cases

During a speech at a retirement party, sharing this quote reflects on how life can change quickly.

More from Emily Dickinson

Heart, we will forget him, You and I, tonight! You must forget the warmth he gave, I will forget the light.
Emily DickinsonRead
I held a jewel in my fingers And went to sleep. The day was warm, and winds were prosy; I said: "'T will keep." I woke and chid my honest fingers,β€” The gem was gone; And now an amethyst remembrance Is all I own.
Emily DickinsonRead
I'll tell you how the sun rose, a ribbon at a time. The steeples swam in amethyst, The news like squirrels ran. The hills untied their bonnets, The bobolinks begun. Then I said softly to myself, "That must have been the sun!
Emily DickinsonRead
My best Acquaintances are those With Whom I spoke no Word
Emily DickinsonRead
This is the Hour of Lead- Remembered, if outlived, As freezing persons, recollect the Snow- First-Chill-then Stupor- then the letting go---
Emily DickinsonRead
Luck is not chance, it's toil; fortune's expensive smile is earned.
Emily DickinsonRead

Similar quotes

The future belongs to God, and it is only he who reveals it, under extraordinary circumstances.
Paulo CoelhoRead
The task of the real intellectual consists of analyzing illusions in order to discover their causes.
Arthur MillerRead
People haunted by the purposelessness of their lives try to find a new content not only by dedicating themselves to a holy cause but also by nursing a fanatical grievance. A mass movement offers them unlimited opportunities for both.
Eric HofferRead
A trait no other nation seems to possess in quite the same degree as we do namely, a feeling of almost childish injury and resentment unless the world as a whole recognizes how innocent we are of anything but the most generous and harmless intentions
Eleanor RooseveltRead
What is the meaning of it, Watson? said Holmes solemnly as he laid down the paper. "What object is served by this circle of misery and violence and fear? It must tend to some end, or else our universe is ruled by chance, which is unthinkable. But what end? There is the great standing perennial problem to which human reason is as far from an answer as ever.
Arthur Conan DoyleRead
Without free speech no search for truth is possible... no discovery of truth is useful.
Charles BradlaughRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.