They accepted the pleasures of morning, the bright sun, the whelming sea and sweet air, as a time when play was good and life so full that hope was not necessary and therefore forgotten.
Interpretation
This quote reflects the simple joys and fullness of life in the present moment.
William Golding's quote emphasizes the beauty of living in the present, where the pleasures of nature and the joy of play can fill one's life to the point that hope for the future seems unnecessary. It suggests that when one fully experiences the moment—such as enjoying a sunny morning by the sea—there is no need for hope, as the present is fulfilling enough.
In practice
This quote can be shared in a mindfulness workshop to encourage living in the moment.
Consider a man riding a bicycle. Whoever he is, we can say three things about him. We know he got on the bicycle and started to move. We know that at some point he will stop and get off. Most important of all, we know that if at any point between the beginning and the end of his journey he stops moving and does not get off the bicycle he will fall off it. That is a metaphor for the journey through life of any living thing, and I think of any society of living things.
The skull regarded Ralph like one who knows all the answers and won't tell.
Maybe, he said hesitantly, maybe there is a beast. The assembly cried out savagely and Ralph stood up in amazement. You, Simon? You believe in this? I don't know, said Simon. His heartbeats were choking him. [...] Ralph shouted. Hear him! He's got the conch! What I mean is . . . maybe it's only us. Nuts! That was from Piggy, shocked out of decorum.
The mask was a thing on it's own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-conciousness.
Man produces evil as a bee produces honey.
Utopias are presented for our inspection as a critique of the human state.
Now stir the fire, and close the shutters fast, Let fall the curtains, wheel the sofa around, And while the bubbling and loud-hissing urn Throws up a steamy column, and the cups That cheer but not inebriate, wait on each, So let us welcome peaceful evening in
... And the boy whose hair remained the color of lemons forever.
To the as-yet-unborn, to all innocent wisps of undifferentiated nothingness: Watch out for life.
You have come into a hard world. I know of only one easy place in it, and that is the grave.
Sometimes it takes a wake-up call, doesn't it, to alert us to the fact that we're hurrying through our lives instead of actually living them; that we're living the fast life instead of the good life. And I think, for many people, that wake-up call takes the form of an illness.
Life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you respond to it.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.