Heart, we will forget him, You and I, tonight! You must forget the warmth he gave, I will forget the light.
Emily DickinsonRead
In such a porcelain life, one likes to be sure that all is well lest one stumble upon one's hopes in a pile of broken crockery.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects the fragility of life and the need to safeguard our hopes and dreams from disappointment.
Emily Dickinson's quote speaks to the delicate nature of existence, equating life to porcelain—beautiful yet easily shattered. It emphasizes the importance of certainty and security, suggesting that one must take care not to let their aspirations become damaged or lost in the chaos of life's uncertainties, much like finding hopes among broken ceramic pieces.
Themes
LifeHopesFragilityCertaintyDreams
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about the challenges of pursuing one's dreams.
More from Emily Dickinson
All quotes →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,— 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
Terrorists are not following Islam. Killing people and blowing up people and dropping bombs in places and all this is not the way to spread the word of Islam. So people realize now that all Muslims are not terrorists.
Muhammad AliRead
Better guilt than the terrible burden of freedom and responsibility.
Ernest BeckerRead
To destroy guide-boards that point in the wrong direction . . . to drive the fiend of fear from the mind . . . is the task of the Freethinker.
Robert Green IngersollRead
I believe human beings mark a threshold in the development of the planet, of course, but it is only part of the picture. What Big History can do is show us the nature of our complexity and fragility and the dangers that face us, but it can also show us our power, with collective learning.
David ChristianRead
I've been so thoroughly incorporated into the California culture that I practice meditation and go to a therapist, even though I always set a trap: during my meditation I invent stories to keep from being bored, and in therapy I invent stories to keep from boring the psychologist.
Isabel AllendeRead
Beware of thinkers whose minds function only when they are fueled by a quotation.
Emile M. CioranRead