Try any goddam thing you like, no matter how boringly normal or outrageous. If it works, fine. If it doesn't, toss it. Toss it even if you love it.
Stephen KingRead
The town has a sense, not of history, but of time, and the telephone poles seem to know this. If you lay your hand against one, you can feel the vibration from the wires deep within the wood, as if souls had been imprisoned in there and were struggling to get out.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the connection between the physical structures in a town and the passage of time, suggesting a deeper awareness of existence.
In this quote, Stephen King evokes a profound connection to the essence of time through the imagery of telephone poles. He suggests that these everyday objects are not just passive structures but are infused with a sense of history and emotion, embodying the stories and souls of those who might have existed in their presence. This perspective invites readers to consider how our surroundings are intertwined with the temporal experiences of humanity, revealing a haunting yet beautiful resonance of life within inanimate objects.
Themes
TimeHistoryExistenceEmotionsVibrationsTelephone Poles
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the significance of history in our lives, one might quote this to illustrate the unseen connections we share with our environments.
More from Stephen King
All quotes →Eddie discovered one of his childhood's great truths. Grownups are the real monsters, he thought.
Stephen KingRead
Hairstyles change, and skirt lengths, and slang, but high school administrations? Never.
Stephen KingRead
Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s.
Stephen KingRead
That's the day's business. Thinking. Thinking and isolation, because it doesn't matter if you pass the time of day with someone or not; in the end, you're alone. He seemed to have put in as many miles in his brain as he had with his feet. The thoughts kept coming and there was no way to deny them.
Stephen KingRead
Late last night and the night before, tommyknockers, tommyknockers knocking on my door. I wanna go out, don't know if I can 'cuz I'm so afraid of the tommyknocker man.
Stephen KingRead
Similar quotes
What pride to discover that nothing belongs to you - what a revelation.
Emile M. CioranRead
In court, judges tell people that their conviction carries a sentence of years, or probation. The truth is far more terrible. People convicted of crimes often become social outcasts for life, finding it difficult or impossible to rent an apartment, get a job, adopt children, access public benefits, serve on juries, or vote.
James Forman, Jr.Read
There is nothing little in God; His mercy is like Himself-it is infinite. You cannot measure it. His mercy is so great that it forgives great sins to great sinners, after great lengths of time, and then gives great favours and great privileges, and raises us up to great enjoyments in the great heaven of the great God.
Charles SpurgeonRead
We all belong to South Africa, and South Africa belongs to us all.
Oliver TamboRead
Humanity? Humanity is not concerned with us. Today anything is allowed. Anything is possible.
Elie WieselRead
In an ugly and unhappy world the richest man can purchase nothing but ugliness and unhappiness.
George Bernard ShawRead