We think constant connection will make us feel less lonely. The opposite is true.
Sherry TurkleRead
Several times in my life I've gone through long periods without sex or any other kind of physical contact. The hunger it produces is deep and low; it's possible to lose track of it, to forget or fail to perceive how it's emptied everything out of you and made the world papery and thin. Touch starved, you brush against existence like a stick against dry leaves. You become insubstantial yourself, a hungry ghost.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the deep emotional and existential impact of physical touch deprivation.
In this quote, Hari Kunzru reflects on the profound effects that a lack of physical contact can have on a person. The experience of being 'touch starved' can lead to feelings of emptiness and disconnection from the world, creating a sense of insubstantiality where one feels more like a ghost than a vibrant individual. The metaphor emphasizes how essential physical touch is to our well-being and how its absence can distort our perception of reality.
Themes
TouchPhysical ContactRelationshipsEmptinessExistenceLonging
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of human connection, you could use this quote to illustrate emotional experiences.
Similar quotes
If we're by ourselves we come to feel crazy and alone. We need to make alternate families of small groups of women who support each other, talk to each other regularly, can speak their truths and their experiences and find they're not alone in them, that other women have them, too ... It makes such a huge difference.
Gloria SteinemRead
You know how funerals are not for the dead, they’re for the living? Bachelor parties are not for the groom, they’re for the uncommitted.
Bill MurrayRead
Acquaintance. A person whom we know well enough to borrow from, but not well enough to lend to.
Ambrose BierceRead
I think it's important for people to stay human and remember that genuine human connection is more fulfilling than anything that technology has to offer. We all have it within us, and music is something that can bring that out of us.
Jon BatisteRead
It seems to me that more and more we've come to expect less and less from each other, and I think that should change.
Aaron SorkinRead