The universe is made of stories, not of atoms.
What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life? The world would split open.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that a woman's truthful life story could reveal profound truths about society and the human experience.
Muriel Rukeyser's quote reflects the immense power of sharing one's truth, particularly for women whose stories have often been marginalized or silenced. By presenting the raw and honest experiences of a woman's life, the quote implies that deeper societal issues would emerge, challenging the status quo and leading to significant revelations and changes in understanding. This act of truth-telling could inspire others to share their own stories, ultimately transforming perspectives and the world at large.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a women's empowerment seminar to highlight the importance of sharing personal stories.
More from Muriel Rukeyser
All quotes βA work of art is one through which the consciousness of the artist is able to give its emotions to anyone who is prepared to receive them.
In our period, they say there is free speech. They say there is no penalty for poets, There is no penalty for writing poems. They say this. This is the penalty.
Nourish beginnings, let us nourish beginnings. Not all things are blest, but the seeds of all things are blest. The blessing is in the seed.
The town of Gauley Bridge stands as a pattern for all those places where people are linked even in the middle of their suffering, where people fight against an evil condition so that other people need not go through the same fight.
Always our wars have been our confessions of weakness
Similar quotes
I repeat again: the male mind is egoistic. You have to learn the way of the feminine, you have to become egoless, you have to learn the path of surrender. You have to learn how to melt into existence, how to become one with the rivers and the mountains and the clouds, how to feel affinity, attunement, at-onement. And then slowly, slowly you become a host. The day you are a host, the Guest comes.
In both writing and sleeping, we learn to be physically still at the same time we are encouraging our minds to unlock from the humdrum rational thinking of our daytime lives.
Much knowledge will corrupt the heart,/When partly understood,/And so the people grow too smart,/But neither wise nor good.
I expect you have seen someone put a a lighted match to a bit of newspaper which is propped up in a grate against an unlit fire. And for a second nothing seems to have happened; and then you notice a tiny steak of flame creeping along the edged of the newspaper. It was like that now.
Do you prefer that you be right or happy?
Great advantage is drawn from knowledge of your adversary, and when you know the measure of his intelligence and character, you can use it to play on his weakness.