Anyone with gumption and a sharp mind will take the measure of two things: what's said and what's done.
Seamus HeaneyRead
I think that water is immediately interesting. It's just, as an element, it is full of life. It is associated with origin; it is bright - it reflects you.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Water symbolizes life and reflection, highlighting its essential role in existence and its ability to connect us to our origins.
In this quote, Seamus Heaney expresses his fascination with water, viewing it as a vital element that embodies life and serves as a mirror for our own existence. Water not only sustains life but also symbolizes the beginnings of life and connects us to our origins, reflecting both the physical world and our inner selves. Heaney's words suggest that water is more than a mere substance; it is a profound source of inspiration and connection to nature and humanity.
Themes
WaterLifeReflectionOriginNature
In practice
Example use cases
Use this quote to emphasize the importance of water conservation in an environmental speech.
More from Seamus Heaney
All quotes βWhat I've said before, only half in joke, is that everybody in Ireland is famous. Or, maybe better, say everybody is familiar.
Seamus HeaneyRead
The kinds of truth that art gives us many, many times are small truths. They don't have the resonance of an encyclical from the Pope stating an eternal truth, but they partake of the quality of eternity. There is a sort of timeless delight in them.
Seamus HeaneyRead
If self is a location, so is love: Bearings taken, markings, cardinal points, Options, obstinacies, dug heels, and distance, Here and there and now and then, a stance.
Seamus HeaneyRead
In my early teens, I acquired a kind of representative status: went on behalf of the family to wakes and funerals and so on. And I would be counted on as an adult contributor when it came to farm work - the hay in the summertime, for example.
Seamus HeaneyRead
I suppose you inevitably fall into habits of expression.
Seamus HeaneyRead
Similar quotes
I never get tired of the blue sky.
Vincent Van GoghRead
Sometimes from this hillside just after sunset The rim of the sky takes on a tinge Of the palest green, like the flesh of a cucumber When you peel it carefully.
Robert HassRead
Nothing is more beautiful than the loveliness of the woods before sunrise.
George Washington CarverRead
We don't know nearly enough about the complexities of Nature. If we think we can eliminate natural ecosystems and substitute prosthetic devices, i.e. clean air or water with fusion energy - we are kidding ourselves.
E. O. WilsonRead
Though not a natural world by any means, more like a collection of living dioramas, a zoo exists in its own time zone, somewhere between the seasonal sense of animals and our madly ticking watch time.
Diane AckermanRead
National parks and reserves are an integral aspect of intelligent use of natural resources. It is the course of wisdom to set aside an ample portion of our natural resources as national parks and reserves, thus ensuring that future generations may know the majesty of the earth as we know it today.
John F. KennedyRead