There's life for you. Spend the best years of your life studying penmanship and rhetoric and syntax and Beowulf and George Eliot, and then somebody steals your pencil.
Dorothy ParkerRead
If wild my breast and sore my pride, I bask in dreams of suicide, If cool my heart and high my head I think 'How lucky are the dead.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the contrasts between despair and contentment in the face of mortality.
Dorothy Parker's quote captures the complex emotions surrounding life and death. It expresses a sense of turmoil and pride when dealing with painful feelings, while also presenting a romanticized sorrowful contemplation of death, suggesting that those who have passed might be at peace compared to the struggles of the living. The juxtaposition of suffering and the serene acceptance of death denotes a profound philosophical inquiry into existence and the human psyche.
Themes
LifeDeathDespairMortalitySuffering
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about mental health awareness at a community event.
More from Dorothy Parker
All quotes βMy land is bare of chattering folk; / the clouds are low along the ridges, / and sweet's the air with curly smoke / from all my burning bridges.
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Prince or commoner, tenor or bass, Painter or plumber or never-do-well, Do me a favor and shut your face - Poets alone should kiss and tell.
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They say of me, and so they should, It's doubtful if I come to good. I see acquaintances and friends Accumulating dividends And making enviable names In science, art and parlor games. But I, despite expert advice, Keep doing things I think are nice, And though to good I never come Inseparable my nose and thumb.
Dorothy ParkerRead
It is that word 'hunny,' my darlings, that marks the first place in The House at Pooh Corner at which Tonstant Weader fwowed up.
Dorothy ParkerRead
I canβt write five words but that I change seven.
Dorothy ParkerRead
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