I'd rather have two good friends, than 500,000 admirers.
Time cannot children,poets,lovers tell- measure imagine,mystery,a kiss -not though mankind would rather know than feel
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes that time cannot quantify emotions and experiences, particularly those related to love and imagination.
E. E. Cummings highlights the idea that the most profound moments in life, such as love, creativity, and intimate experiences like a kiss, cannot be measured by time or logic. Instead, these moments are better understood through feelings and personal experiences, which often transcend rational understanding. Cummings suggests that while humanity may seek to define and understand these intimate experiences, the true essence lies in the ability to feel rather than merely know.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared during a wedding ceremony to emphasize the significance of love and connection beyond time.
More from E. E. Cummings
All quotes βI'd rather learn from one bird how to sing than to teach ten thousand stars how not to dance.
It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.
When god decided to invent everything he took one reath bigger than a circustent and everything began
The Artist is no other than he who unlearns what he has learned, in order to know himself.
Nobody else can be alive for you; nor can you be alive for anybody else.
Similar quotes
To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us.
Perhaps the feelings that we experience when we are in love represent a normal state. Being in love shows a person who he should be.
Love is the most universal, the most tremendous and the most mystical of cosmic forces. Love is the primal and universal psychic energy. Love is a sacred reserve of energy; it is like the blood of spiritual evolution.
When we first meet what we love, we could become poets for our longing. When we are removed from what we love, we become singers of grief and weavers of elegant description.
Eroticism is one of the basic means of self-knowledge, as indispensable as poetry.
Beauty grows in you to the extent that love grows, because charity itself is the soul's beauty.