There was a war going on in our house. A silent war that sounded no guns, and the bodies that fell were only wishes that died and the bullets were only words and the blood that spilled was always called pride.
Interpretation
This quote illustrates the struggle and conflict within a family hidden beneath the surface, emphasizing emotional pain and the harm caused by unspoken words.
Virginia C. Andrews describes the insidious nature of conflict within the domestic sphere. The quote portrays a metaphorical war, highlighting that the most injurious battles often occur silently, with words serving as weapons and unfulfilled desires leading to emotional casualties. It evokes the pain of unexpressed emotions and the pride that prevents healing, suggesting that familial relationships can be fraught with tensions that are not always visible but deeply felt.
In practice
This quote can be used in a family counseling session to illustrate the hidden tensions that often exist in households.
Love, how often that word came up in books over and over again. If you had wealth and health, and beauty and talent...you had nothing if you didn't have love. Love changed all that was ordinary into something giddy, powerful, drunken, enchanted.
After it's all over, the early childhood, a chain of birthdays woven with candlelight, piles of presents, voices of relatives singing and praising your promise and future, after the years of schooling, fitting yourself into different size desks, memorizing, reciting, reporting, and performing for jury after jury of teachers, counselors, and administrators, you still feel inadequate, alone, vulnerable, and naked in a world that can be unforgiving and terribly demanding.
Wherever a beautiful soul has been there is a trail of beautiful memories.
Never go on trips with anyone you do not love.
Home is ultimately not about a place to live but about the people with whom you are most fully alive. Home is about love, relationship, community, and belonging, and we are all searching for home.
No matter how much you know a human being, you don't know him enough.
The deepest desire of the human spirit is to be acknowledged.
Men and women -- even man and wife are foreigners. Each has reserves that the other cannot enter into, nor understand. These have the effect of frontiers.
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