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If you want to call it that. But it is a very specific sort of magic. There's a magic you take from death. Something leaves the world, something else comes into it.
Neil Gaiman
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote reflects on the transformative nature of death, suggesting that it brings about a unique kind of magic through change.

In this quote, Neil Gaiman addresses the concept of death as a catalyst for change and transformation. He implies that while death is often viewed negatively, it holds a specific kind of magic in that it creates space for new beginnings and different experiences. This alteration emphasizes the interconnectedness of life and death and how one inevitably leads to the other, fostering growth and renewal in the world.

Themes

DeathTransformationChangeMagicRenewal

In practice

Example use cases

In a eulogy, one might say this quote to highlight the beauty that can arise from loss.

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A short story is the ultimate close-up magic trick -- a couple of thousand words to take you around the universe or break your heart.
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As a teenager I wrote to R.A. Lafferty. And he responded, too, with letters that were like R.A. Lafferty short stories, filled with elliptical answers to straight questions and simple answers to complicated ones.
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The important thing to understand about American history, wrote Mr. Ibis, in his leather-bound journal, is that it is fictional, a charcoal-sketched simplicity for the children, or the easily bored.
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Nothing’s changed. You’ll go home. You’ll be bored. You’ll be ignored. No one will listen to you, really listen to you. You’re too clever and too quiet for them to understand. They don’t even get your name right.
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I like the stars. It's the illusion of permanence, I think. I mean, they're always flaring up and caving in and going out. But from here, I can pretend...I can pretend that things last. I can pretend that lives last longer than moments. Gods come, and gods go. Mortals flicker and flash and fade. Worlds don't last; and stars and galaxies are transient, fleeting things that twinkle like fireflies and vanish into cold and dust. But I can pretend.
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