If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs I have known will go to heaven, and very, very few persons.
James ThurberRead
Things have dropped from me. I have outlived certain desires; I have lost friends, some by death... others through sheer inability to cross the street.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the passage of time and the inevitable changes in relationships and desires.
James Thurber's quote captures the essence of life's transient nature. It emphasizes that as we age, we naturally shed certain desires and connections, either through the loss of friends to death or the gradual distancing that occurs in relationships. This speaks to the universal experience of change and acceptance that comes with living, highlighting how our priorities and social circles evolve.
Themes
ChangeLossFriendshipDesireAging
In practice
Example use cases
During a reflective moment in a speech at a memorial service.
More from James Thurber
All quotes →Speed is scarcely the noblest virtue of graphic composition, but it has its curious rewards. There is a sense of getting somewhere fast, which satisfies a native American urge.
James ThurberRead
The laughter of man is more terrible than his tears, and takes more forms hollow, heartless, mirthless, maniacal.
James ThurberRead
The appreciative smile, the chuckle, the soundless mirth, so important to the success of comedy, cannot be understood unless one sits among the audience and feels the warmth created by the quality of laughter that the audience takes home with it.
James ThurberRead
Unless artists can remember what it was to be a little boy, they are only half complete as artist and as man.
James ThurberRead
These are the days of bootleg love.
James ThurberRead
Similar quotes
I am happy to say that everyone that I have met in my life, I have gained something from them; be it negative or positive, it has enforced and reinforced my life in some aspect.
Walter PaytonRead
Who sleeps at night? No one is sleeping. In the cradle a child is screaming. An old man sits over his death, and anyone young enough talks to his love, breathes into her lips, looks into her eyes.
Marina TsvetaevaRead
Don't just count your years, make your years count.
Ernest MyersRead
Live life fully while you're here. Experience everything. Take care of yourself and your friends. Have fun, be crazy, be weird.
Tony RobbinsRead
If I stayed here, something inside me would be lost forever—something I couldn't afford to lose. It was like a vague dream, a burning, unfulfilled desire. The kind of dream people have only when they're seventeen.
Haruki MurakamiRead
Duck, big brother! Here comes another day!
Charles M. SchulzRead