Abortions will not let you forget. You remember the children you got that you did not get.
Interpretation
This quote reflects on the lasting emotional impact of abortion and the memories of lost children.
Gwendolyn Brooks' quote highlights the profound grief and remembrance that accompanies the experience of abortion. It suggests that the decision to terminate a pregnancy leaves an indelible mark on one's memory and emotional landscape, as the thoughts of the potential children linger long after the choice is made.
In practice
In a discussion about reproductive rights, this quote can illustrate the emotional consequences of abortion.
Say to them, say to the down-keepers, the sun-slappers, the self-soilers, the harmony-hushers, "Even if you are not ready for day it cannot always be night." You will be right. For that is the hard home-run. Live not for battles won. Live not for the-end-of-the-song. Live in the along.
What I'm fighting for now in my work... for an expression relevant to all manner of blacks, poems I could take into a tavern, into the street, into the halls of a housing project.
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A writer should get as much education as possible, but just going to school is not enough; if it were, all owners of doctorates would be inspired writers.
I shall create! If not a note, a hole./If not an overture, a desecration.
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Have you ever walked along a shoreline, only to have your footprints washed away? That's what Alzheimer's is like. The waves erase the marks we leave behind, all the sand castles. Some days are better than others.
Postponing doing the really interesting things in life for later, when you don't have the energy.
The best way to keep young is to keep going in whatever it is that keeps you going. With me that's work, and a lot of it. And when a job is finished, relax and have fun.
Life holds only one tragedy, ultimately: not to have been a saint.
Randy [Rhoads] was laid to rest at a place called Mountain View Cemetery, where his grandparents were buried. I made a vow there and then to honour his death every year by sending flowers. Unlike most of my vows, I kept it. But I’ve never been back to his graveside. I’d like to go there again one day, before I finally join him on the other side.
It was like Percy had faced death before, like he knew about grief. What mattered was listening. You didn’t need to say you were sorry. The only thing that helped was moving on—moving forward.
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