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I verily believe that her not remembering and not minding in the least, made me cry again, inwardly - and that is the sharpest crying of all.
Charles Dickens
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote expresses the deep emotional pain caused by a loved one’s indifference.

In this quote, Charles Dickens reflects on the sorrow that accompanies unreciprocated feelings. The act of someone we care about not remembering or caring about us can evoke a profound sense of loneliness and emotional anguish, which he describes as the 'sharpest' form of sadness, indicating that the deepest pain often comes from emotional neglect rather than open conflict or rejection.

Themes

IndifferenceEmotional PainSadnessLoveLoneliness

In practice

Example use cases

In a relationship therapy session, one might use this quote to illustrate the pain of feeling unnoticed.

More from Charles Dickens

I recollected one story there was in the village, how that on a certain night in the year (it might be that very night for anything I knew), all the dead people came out of the ground and sat at the heads of their own graves till morning.
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A silent look of affection and regard when all other eyes are turned coldly away-the consciousness that we possess the sympathy and affection of one being when all others have deserted us-is a hold, a stay, a comfort, in the deepest affliction, which no wealth could purchase, or power bestow.
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Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts. I was better after I had cried, than before--more sorry, more aware of my own ingratitude, more gentle.
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There are not a few among the disciples of charity who require, in their vocation, scarcely less excitement than the votaries of pleasure in theirs.
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You might, from your appearance, be the wife of Lucifer,” said Miss Pross, in her breathing. “Nevertheless, you shall not get the better of me. I am an Englishwoman.
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Christmas is a poor excuse every 25th of December to pick a man's pockets.
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