You imagine the carefully pruned, shaped thing that is presented to you is truth. That is just what it isn't. The truth is improbable, the truth is fantastic; it's in what you think is a distorting mirror that you see the truth.
Jean RhysRead
It is strange how sad it can be - sunlight in the afternoon, don't you think?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the complexity of emotions intertwined with everyday beauty.
In this quote, Jean Rhys expresses the idea that even moments that seem beautiful and bright, such as sunlight in the afternoon, can evoke feelings of sadness. This complexity reveals how our emotions can be deeply affected by our experiences and surroundings, illustrating the bittersweet nature of life where joy and sorrow coexist.
Themes
SadnessSunlightAfternoonBeautyComplexity
In practice
Example use cases
In a reflective moment during a poetry reading, this quote can illustrate the dichotomy of beauty and sadness.
More from Jean Rhys
All quotes →If I was bound for hell, let it be hell. No more false heaven. No more damned magic.
Jean RhysRead
The musty smell, the bugs, the lonliness, this room, which is part of the street outside-this is all I want from life.
Jean RhysRead
Yes, I am sad, sad as a circus-lioness, sad as an eagle without wings, sad as a violin with only one string and that one broken, sad as a woman who is growing old. Sad, sad, sad.
Jean RhysRead
My life, which seems so simple and monotonous, is really a complicated affair of cafés where they like me and cafés where they don't, streets that are friendly, streets that aren't, rooms where I might be happy, rooms where I shall never be, looking-glasses I look nice in, looking-glasses I don't, dresses that will be lucky, dresses that won't, and so on.
Jean RhysRead
I must write. If I stop writing my life will have been an abject failure. It is that already to other people. But it could be an abject failure to myself. I will not have earned death.
Jean RhysRead
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