The heaventree of stars hung with humid nightblue fruit.
James JoyceRead
My words in her mind: cold polished stones sinking through a quagmire.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects the struggle of communication and understanding in a complex emotional context.
James Joyce's quote illustrates the difficulty of expressing thoughts and feelings to someone deeply engaged in their own emotional turmoil, likening words to 'cold polished stones' that are ineffective in navigating the 'quagmire' of confusion and distress. This metaphor emphasizes how language can sometimes feel cumbersome and inadequate when faced with the intricate and murky waters of emotional complexity.
Themes
CommunicationEmotionsUnderstandingStruggleExpression
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about the challenges of meaningful communication in relationships.
More from James Joyce
All quotes βI think a child should be allowed to take his father's or mother's name at will on coming of age. Paternity is a legal fiction.
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If he had smiled why would he have smiled? To reflect that each one who enters imagines himself to be the first to enter whereas he is always the last term of a preceding series even if the first term of a succeeding one, each imagining himself to be first, last, only and alone whereas he is neither first nor last nor only nor alone in a series originating in and repeated to infinity.
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Gentle lady, do not sing Sad songs about the end of love; Lay aside sadness and sing How love that passes is enough. Sing about the long deep sleep Of lovers that are dead, and how In the grave all love shall sleep: Love is aweary now.
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I am tomorrow, or some future day, what I establish today. I am today what I established yesterday or some previous day.
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The movements which work revolutions in the world are born out of the dreams and visions in a peasant's heart on the hillside.
James JoyceRead
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