You imagine the carefully pruned, shaped thing that is presented to you is truth. That is just what it isn't. The truth is improbable, the truth is fantastic; it's in what you think is a distorting mirror that you see the truth.
Jean RhysRead
Yes, I am sad, sad as a circus-lioness, sad as an eagle without wings, sad as a violin with only one string and that one broken, sad as a woman who is growing old. Sad, sad, sad.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses profound sadness through vivid imagery, reflecting on loss and unfulfilled potential.
In this quote, Jean Rhys conveys a deep sense of sorrow using powerful comparisons that evoke the emotional weight of her feelings. The imagery of a circus lioness, a wingless eagle, and a broken violin illustrates how her sadness stems from a lack of freedom, vitality, and harmony. These metaphors encapsulate various aspects of loss and longing, particularly as they pertain to the experience of aging and the internal struggles unique to women. Rhys’ repetition of 'sad' emphasizes the intensity and depth of her grief, highlighting the human condition's inherent melancholies.
Themes
SadnessLossAgingEmotionsGrief
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the melancholy aspects of aging, this quote provides a poignant reflection.
More from Jean Rhys
All quotes →If I was bound for hell, let it be hell. No more false heaven. No more damned magic.
Jean RhysRead
The musty smell, the bugs, the lonliness, this room, which is part of the street outside-this is all I want from life.
Jean RhysRead
My life, which seems so simple and monotonous, is really a complicated affair of cafés where they like me and cafés where they don't, streets that are friendly, streets that aren't, rooms where I might be happy, rooms where I shall never be, looking-glasses I look nice in, looking-glasses I don't, dresses that will be lucky, dresses that won't, and so on.
Jean RhysRead
I must write. If I stop writing my life will have been an abject failure. It is that already to other people. But it could be an abject failure to myself. I will not have earned death.
Jean RhysRead
Your red dress,’ she said, and laughed. But I looked at the dress on the floor and it was as if the fire had spread across the room. It was beautiful and it reminded me of something I must do. I will remember I thought. I will remember quite soon now.
Jean RhysRead
Similar quotes
Life can be wildly tragic at times, and I've had my share. But whatever happens to you, you have to keep a slightly comic attitude. In the final analysis, you have got not to forget to laugh.
Katharine HepburnRead
It is that unoccupied space which makes a room habitable, as it is our leisure hours which make life endurable.
Lin YutangRead
Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they're supposed to help you discover who you are.
Bernice Johnson ReagonRead
The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat.
Lily TomlinRead
It is the most powerful creation to have life growing inside of you. There is no bigger gift.
Beyonce KnowlesRead
At my age, and in my circumstances, what sinister object, or personal emolument had I to seek after, in this life? The growing infirmities of age and the increasing love of retirement, daily confirm my decided predilection for domestic life: and the great Searcher of human hearts is my witness, that I have no wish, which aspires beyond the humble and happy lot of living and dying a private citizen on my own farm.
George WashingtonRead