And enough for me that when my hand touched your shoulder, you leaned on me; and when you felt me slip away, you called my name.
Orson Scott CardRead
Someday stars will wind down or blow up. Someday death will cover us all like the water of a lake and perhaps nothing will ever come to the surface to show that we were ever there. But we WERE there, and during the time we lived, we were alive. That's the truth - what is, what was, what will be - not what could be, what should have been, what never can be.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the certainty of death and the importance of acknowledging our existence and experiences while alive.
Orson Scott Card's quote confronts the inevitability of death and the transient nature of life. It emphasizes that, although our physical presence may eventually fade and be forgotten, the fact that we lived and experienced life is what truly matters. The quote challenges the focus on unrealized potential or regrets, urging us to value our existence and the moments we have, as they shape our reality and define our truth.
Themes
LifeDeathExistenceTruthMeaning
In practice
Example use cases
In a graduation speech to inspire students to appreciate their time and experiences.
More from Orson Scott Card
All quotes →The world is always a democracy in times of flux, and the man with the best voice will win.
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Never mind that the story had turned out to be lies and foolishness—there was always folks stupid enough to say, Where there's smoke there's fire, when the saying should have been, Where there's scandalous lies there's always malicious believers and spreaders-around, regardless of evidence.
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The lives of all people flow through time, and, regardless of how brutal one moment may be, how filled with grief or pain or fear, time flows through all lives equally.
Orson Scott CardRead
You take a step, then another. That's the journey. But to take a step with your eyes open is not a journey at all, it's a remaking of your own mind.
Orson Scott CardRead
I've had your tears with mine, and you've had mine with yours. I think that's more intimate even than a kiss.
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When I was young, I had to choose between the life of being and the life of doing. And I leapt at the latter like a trout to a fly. But each deed you do, each act, binds you to itself and to its consequences, and makes you act again and yet again. Then very seldom do you come upon a space, a time like this, between act and act, when you may stop and simply be. Or wonder who, after all, you are.
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