Blow the candle out, I don't need to see what my thoughts look like.
Emile ZolaRead
Did not one spend the first half of one's days in dreams of happiness and the second half in regrets and terrors?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the duality of human experience, contrasting dreams of happiness in youth with the regrets and fears that often come later in life.
Emile Zola's quote captures the essence of life's journey, suggesting that in the early stages, individuals often lose themselves in dreams and aspirations of happiness. However, as time passes, many become increasingly burdened by regrets and fears that stem from past choices, creating a poignant reflection on the bittersweet nature of existence.
Themes
LifeDreamsRegretHappinessExperience
In practice
Example use cases
During a commencement speech to inspire graduates about pursuing their dreams.
More from Emile Zola
All quotes βI believe that all is illusion and vanity outside the treasure of truths slowly accumulated, and which will never again be lost. I believe that the sum of these truths, always increasing, will at last confer on man incalculable power and peace, if not happiness. Yes, I believe in the final triumph of life.
Emile ZolaRead
A ruined man fell from her hands like a ripe fruit, to lie rotting on the ground.
Emile ZolaRead
Oh, the fools, like a lot of good little schoolboys, scared to death of anything they've been taught is wrong!
Emile ZolaRead
They dared not peer down into their own natures, down into the feverish confusion that filled their minds with a kind of dense, acrid mist.
Emile ZolaRead
If you ask me what I came into this life to do, I will tell you: I came to live out loud.
Emile ZolaRead
Similar quotes
We all live inside bodies that will deteriorate. But when you look at human beings, they're capable of very decent things: love, loyalty. When time is running out, they don't care about possessions or status. They want to put things right if they've done wrong.
Kazuo IshiguroRead
You wake up in the morning, and lo! your purse is magically filled with twenty-four hours of the unmanufactured tissue of the universe of your life! It is yours. It is the most precious of possessions. No one can take it from you. It is unstealable. And no one receives either more or less than you receive.
Arnold BennettRead
Because of the enormous responsibility, diabetic kids tend to grow up to be the most mature, most realistic people who have a natural desire to reach outside of themselves.
Mary Tyler MooreRead
I come home that morning, after I been fired, and stood outside my house with my new work shoes on. The shoes my mama paid a month's worth a light bill for. I guess that's when I understood what shame was and the color of it too. Shame ain't black, like dirt, like I always thought it was. Shame be the color of a new white uniform your mother ironed all night to pay for, white without a smudge or a speck a work-dirt on it.
Kathryn StockettRead
We didn't know each other well. I never had the time. Now I see that it doesn't make any difference. The ones who hurry and the ones who take their time all end up in the same place. Just don't have any regrets. No regrets.
Stanislaw LemRead
I have my work and my faith... If that's boring to some people, I can't tell you how much I don't care.
Madonna CicconeRead