Wendy, Wendy, when you are sleeping in your silly bed you might be flying about with me saying funny things to the stars.
James M. BarrieRead
She's awfully fond of Wendy,' he said to himself. He was angry with her now for not seeing why she could not have Wendy. The reason was so simple: 'I'm fond of her too. We can't both have her, lady.
Interpretation
This quote expresses the conflict that arises from shared affection and the difficulty of accepting that love cannot be divided.
In this quote from James M. Barrie, the speaker grapples with feelings of jealousy and frustration over a mutual affection for Wendy. He realizes that both he and another individual care for her deeply, but this shared fondness creates tension as they cannot both possess her love. The quote highlights the complexities of relationships, especially when emotions are involved and personal attachments overlap.
In practice
This quote can be a reminder during relationship discussions about shared partners.
Wendy, Wendy, when you are sleeping in your silly bed you might be flying about with me saying funny things to the stars.
His lordship may compel us to be equal upstairs, but there will never be equality in the servants' hall.
The secret of happiness is not in doing what one likes, but in liking what one does.
Never ascribe to an opponent motives meaner than your own.
It was then that Hook bit him. Not the pain of this but its unfairness was what dazed Peter. It made him quite helpless. He could only stare, horrified. Every child is affected thus the first time he is treated unfairly. All he thinks he has a right to when he comes to you to be yours is fairness. After you have been unfair to him he will love you again, but he will never afterwards be quite the same boy. No one ever gets over the first unfairness; no one except Peter.
But the years came and went without bringing the careless boy; and when they met again Wendy was a married woman, and Peter was no more to her than a little dust in the box in which she had kept her toys.
She wanted to leave, she wanted to lie alone face down on her bed and savor the vile piquancy of the moment, and go back down the lines of branching consequences to the point before the destruction began. She needed to contemplate with eyes closed the full richness of what she had lost, what she had given away, and to anticipate the new regime.
The essence of being human is that one does not seek perfection, that one is sometimes willing to commit sins for the sake of loyalty, that one does not push asceticism to the point where it makes friendly intercourse impossible, and that one is prepared in the end to be defeated and broken up by life, which is the inevitable price of fastening one's love upon other human individuals.
Only enemies speak the truth; friends and lovers lie endlessly, caught in the web of duty.
As you navigate through the rest of your life, be open to collaboration. Other people and other people's ideas are often better than your own. Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you, spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life.
In my early professional years I was asking the question: How can I treat, or cure, or change this person? Now I would phrase the question in this way: How can I provide a relationship which this person may use for his own personal growth?
Whether it be a matter of personal relations within a marriage or political initiatives within a peace process, there is no sure-fire do-it-yourself kit.
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