Reality is a prison, where one vegetates and always will. All the rest - thought, action - is just a pastime, mental or physical. What counts then, is to come to grips with reality. The rest can go.
Cesare PaveseRead
But here's the worst part: the trick to life lies in hiding from those we hold most dear how much they mean to is; if not, we'd lose them.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the complexity of expressing our true feelings to those we love, suggesting that sometimes we hide our deep emotions to protect our bonds.
Cesare Pavese expresses the paradoxical nature of our emotional connections with loved ones in this quote. He suggests that the deepest bonds often come with the burden of unspoken feelings; that we may choose to hide the full extent of our love and appreciation to safeguard those relationships. By not revealing the significance of these feelings, we shield ourselves and our loved ones from potential loss, implying that vulnerability can sometimes lead to fear of separation. This highlights a crucial aspect of human relationships where the fear of losing someone can cause us to conceal our true emotions, creating a complex web of love and self-preservation.
Themes
RelationshipsEmotionsLoveFearConnection
In practice
Example use cases
During a family gathering, one might use this quote to discuss the complexities of family relationships.
More from Cesare Pavese
All quotes →Waiting is still an occupation. It is having nothing to wait for that is terrible.
Cesare PaveseRead
Dawn's faint breath breathes with your mouth at the ends of empty streets. Gray light your eyes, sweet drops of dawn on dark hills. Your steps and breath like the wind of dawn smother houses. The city shudders, Stones exhale— you are life, an awakening. Star lost in the light of dawn, trill of the breeze, warmth, breath— the night is done. You are light and morning.
Cesare PaveseRead
There is mercy for everyone, except those who are bored with life.
Cesare PaveseRead
One does not kill oneself for love of a woman, but because love - any love - reveals us in our nakedness, our misery, our vulnerability, our nothingness.
Cesare PaveseRead
The cadence of suffering has begun. Every evening at dusk, my heart constricts until night has come.
Cesare PaveseRead
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