The one ironclad rule is that I have to try. I have to walk into my writing room and pick up my pen every weekday morning
Anne TylerRead
People imagine that missing a loved one works kind of like missing cigarettes,' he said. 'The first day is really hard but the next day is less hard and so forth, easier and easier the longer you go on. But instead it's like missing water. Every day, you notice the person's absence more.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Missing someone you love grows more intense over time rather than easier.
This quote highlights the profound nature of love and loss, suggesting that the absence of a loved one does not diminish over time, but rather deepens the sense of longing. Unlike the gradual loss of a physical craving, such as for cigarettes, the emotional pain of missing someone feels more like a struggle against thirst, where the absence becomes increasingly apparent and impactful as time passes.
Themes
LossAbsenceLoveLongingGrief
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about grief, one could use this quote to illustrate the deep emotional impact of losing someone.
More from Anne Tyler
All quotes βI don't know what takes more courage: surviving a lifelong endurance test because you once made a promise or breaking free, disrupting all your world.
Anne TylerRead
I just want to be told a story, and I want to believe I'm living that story, and I don't give a thought to influences or method or any other writerly concerns
Anne TylerRead
I do write long, long character notes - family background, history, details of appearance - much more than will ever appear in the novel. I think this is what lifts a book from that early calculated, artificial stage.
Anne TylerRead
It seems to me that since I've had children, I've grown richer and deeper. They may have slowed down my writing for a while, but when I did write, I had more of a self to speak from.
Anne TylerRead
And she thought what a clean, simple life she would have led if it weren't for love.
Anne TylerRead
Similar quotes
It's probably foolish to expect relationships to go on forever and to say that because something only lasts 10 years, it's a failure.
James TaylorRead
Maybe times are never strange to women: it is just one continuous monotonous thing full of the repeated follies of their menfolks.
William FaulknerRead
Being known as a writer did change the relationships I had with directors. The rap on actors is that they always want to inflate their parts. But when directors know you write screenplays and have a different view of things, you really get invited into the huddle in a much fuller way. And those collaborations end in friendships.
Matt DamonRead
Looks like what drives me crazy Don't have no effect on you-- But I'm gonna keep on at it Till it drives you crazy, too.
Langston HughesRead
Once a woman turns against you, forget it. They can love you, then something turns in them. They can watch you dying in a gutter, run over by a car, and they'll spit on you.
Charles BukowskiRead
If your Bible tells you that gay people ought not be married in your church, don't tell them they can't be married at city hall. Marriage is a civil rite as well a civil right, and we can't let religious bigotry close the door to justice to anyone.
Julian BondRead