The labor into which a heart has poured its whole love--where will it have its say, to excite and inspire, and when?
Yasunari KawabataRead
A secret, if it's kept, can be sweet and comforting, but once it leaks out it can turn on you with a vengeance.
Interpretation
Keeping a secret can provide comfort, but if revealed, it may have negative consequences.
This quote suggests that the act of keeping a secret can create a sense of solace and security; however, the implications of that secret becoming known can lead to unexpected and harsh repercussions. It highlights the dual nature of secrets, where their protective quality can shift dramatically when they are exposed, often resulting in feelings of betrayal or regret.
In practice
When giving a speech about the importance of trust in relationships, this quote illustrates the potential dangers of keeping secrets.
The labor into which a heart has poured its whole love--where will it have its say, to excite and inspire, and when?
The woman was silent, her eyes on the floor. Shimamura had come to a point where he knew he was only parading his masculine shamelessness, and yet it seemed likely enough that the woman was familiar with the failing and need not be shocked by it. He looked at her. Perhaps it was the rich lashes of the downcast eyes that made her face seem warm and sensuous. She shook her head very slightly, and again a faint blush spread over her face.
The road was frozen. The village lay quiet under the cold sky. Komako hitched up the skirt of her kimono and tucked it into her obi. The moon shone like a blade frozen in blue ice.
The winter moon becomes a companion, the heart of the priest, sunk in meditation upon religion and philosophy, there in the mountain hall, is engaged in a delicate interplay and exchange with the moon; and it is this of which the poet sings.
Put your soul in the palm of my hand for me to look at, like a crystal jewel. I'll sketch it in words.
Lunatics have no age. If we were crazy, you and I, we might be a great deal younger.
Churchgoers feel righteous, responsible, and obedient to God's will. They view anyone unlike themselves as devoid of values, and therefore unworthy of God's love. By denying God to all those who have strayed from the path of righteousness, the devout are unwittingly taking on themselves a role that belongs only to God.
More than that, I believe that the grass is green because green is restful to the human eye, that the sky is blue to give us an idea of the infinite. And that blood is red so that murder will be more easily detected and criminals will be brought to justice. Yes, and I believe that I shall live forever, but I shall live without reason.
Anger and hatred are the real enemies that we must confront and defeat, not the 'enemies' who appear from time to time in our lives.
If we cannot comprehend God in his visible works, how then in his inconceivable thoughts, that call the works into being?
A petty reason perhaps why novelists more and more try to keep a distance from journalists is that novelists are trying to write the truth and journalists are trying to write fiction.
Prayer is like lying awake at night, afraid, with your head under the cover, hearing only the beating of your own heart. It is like a bird that has blundered down the flue and is caught indoors and flutters at the windowpanes. It is like standing a long time on a cold day, knocking at a shut door.
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