QuoteProject
People think about who they are in the stillest hour of the night. I carry this thought, the child's mystery and terror of this thought, I feel this immensity in my soul every second of my life.
Don Delillo
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

In quiet moments, we confront our true selves and the enormity of existence.

This quote by Don Delillo reflects on the introspection that occurs during the stillness of night, a time when individuals are most vulnerable to their thoughts and the profound mysteries of life. The 'child's mystery and terror' evokes the innate fear and wonder we experience in confronting our identity and the vastness of our existence, emphasizing the importance of such contemplations in shaping our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.

Themes

IntrospectionExistenceIdentityNightMystery

In practice

Example use cases

During a meditation session, one could reflect on the nature of self with Delillo's words in mind.

More from Don Delillo

The writer is the person who stands outside society, independent of affiliation and independent of influence.
Don DelilloRead
War is the form nostalgia takes when men are hard-pressed to say something good about their country.
Don DelilloRead
American writers ought to stand and live in the margins, and be more dangerous.
Don DelilloRead
For me, writing is a concentrated form of thinking.
Don DelilloRead
I used to think it was possible for an artist to alter the inner life of the culture. Now bomb-makers and gunmen have taken that territory.
Don DelilloRead
[I]n the American soul there is a lonely individual standing in a vast landscape. 
He is either on a horse or driving a car, depending, and either way he’s carrying a gun. 
This is one of the essential images in American mythology.
Don DelilloRead

Similar quotes

Tyrants preserve themselves by sowing fear and mistrust among the citizens by means of spies, by distracting them with foreign wars, by eliminating men of spirit who might lead a revolution, by humbling the people, and making them incapable of decisive action.
AristotleRead
Thus the sum of things is ever being reviewed, and mortals dependent one upon another. Some nations increase, others diminish, and in a short space the generations of living creatures are changed and like runners pass on the torch of life.
LucretiusRead
Is not the brand of 'double-dealer' stamped on the forehead of every democratic slaveholder? Are not fraud and hypocrisy the religion of the man who calls himself a democrat, and hold his fellow-man in bondage?
John Quincy AdamsRead
Harm no other beings. They are just your brothers and sisters.
Gautama BuddhaRead
That space the Evil One abstracted stood From his own evil, and for the time remained Stupidly good, of enmity disarmed, Of guile, of hate, of envy, of revenge .
John MiltonRead
All religions have been made by men.
Napoleon BonaparteRead

A little wisdom, now and then

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