When she bleeds the smells I know change colour. There is iron in her soul on those days. She smells like a gun.
Interpretation
The quote reflects the transformative experiences and emotions that come with change, particularly in the context of identity and inner strength.
Jeanette Winterson's quote evokes a deep connection between physical transformation and emotional resilience. The imagery of blood, smell, and iron symbolizes the intensity of experience, suggesting that during moments of significant emotional upheaval or change, one's essence can be both powerful and raw. It highlights the idea that identity may shift under pressure, and such transformations reveal the underlying strength and complexity of an individual's soul.
In practice
This quote can be used during a personal development workshop to emphasize the inevitability of change in one's life.
What is remembered is not a deed in stone but a metaphor. Meta = above. Pheren = to carry. That which is carried above the literalness of life. A way of thinking that avoids the problems of gravity. The word won't let me down. The single word that can release me from all that unuttered weight.
Reading things that are relevant to the facts of your life is of limited value. The facts are, after all, only the facts, and the yearning passionate part of you will not be met there. That is why reading ourselves as a fiction as well as fact is so liberating. The wider we read the freer we become.
I have a list of titles that I leave at the [library] desk, because they are bound to be written some day, and it's best to be ahead of the queue.
Woolf wanted to say dangerous things in Orlando but she did not want to say them in the missionary position.
In that house, you will find my heart. You must break in, Henri, and get it back for me.' Was she mad? We had been talking figuratively. Her heart was in her body like mine. I tried to explain this to her, but she took my hand and put it against her chest. Feel for yourself.
History is a string full of knots, the best you can do is admire it, and maybe tie it up a bit more. History is a hammock for swinging and a game for playing.
Keep only those things that speak to your heart. Then take the plunge and discard all the rest. By doing this, you can reset your life and embark on a new lifestyle.
No great movement designed to change the world can bear to be laughed at or belittled. Mockery is a rust that corrodes all it touches.
The women's movement was always going to work in two parts. With one part, we'd break open the doors that were closed to women, and with the other part, we'd walk through, transforming society for men and women. Turns out it was a lot easier to open the doors.
If you're not upsetting anyone, you're not changing the status quo.
Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.
You cannot easily fit women into a structure that is already coded as male; you have to change the structure.
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