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
It seemed a marvel to her that any mortal should suffer for lack of love, and yet she had never known a mortal who didn't feel unloved. There was enough love just in this ugly hallway, she thought, that no one should ever feel the lack of it again. She peered at the parents, imagining their hearts like machines, manufacturing surfeit upon surfeit of love for their children, and then wondered how something could be so awesome and so utterly powerless.
I really don't see anything romantic in proposing. It is very romantic to be in love. But there is nothing romantic about a definite proposal. Why, one may be accepted. One usually is, I believe. Then the excitement is all over. The very essence of romance is uncertainty. If ever I get married, I'll certainly try to forget the fact.
Every human activity can be put at the service of the divine and of love. We should all exercise our gift to build community.
I love our shared island, our shared Ireland and its core decency. I love it for its imagination and its celebration of the endless possibilities for our people.
We had fed the heart on fantasies, The heart's grown brutal from the fare, More substance in our enmities Than in our love
Passion is the energy that love creates with no object other than itself.