Heart, we will forget him, You and I, tonight! You must forget the warmth he gave, I will forget the light.
Emily DickinsonRead
The only secret people keep is immortality.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that the concept of immortality is the only truth that people hide or avoid discussing openly.
Emily Dickinson's quote highlights the universal human preoccupation with mortality and the secretiveness surrounding the idea of immortality. It implies that while people may openly discuss many topics, the reality of death and the desire for eternal life are often left unspoken, hinting at a deep existential fear and a longing for permanence that is rarely acknowledged in public discourse.
Themes
ImmortalityDeathSecretsExistentialismHuman Experience
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture about the human relationship with death, one may quote Dickinson to illustrate the societal reluctance to address mortality.
More from Emily Dickinson
All quotes βI 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,β 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
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You!" he cried. "You never hated because you never lived. I know what you are all of you, from first to last--you are the people in power! You are the police--the great, fat smiling men in blue and buttons! You are the Law, and you have never been broken. But is there a free soul alive that does not long to break you, only because you have never been broken?
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The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved.
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