The poet is one who is able to keep the fresh vision of the child alive.
Anais NinRead
There are books which we read early in life, which sink into our consciousness and seem to disappear without leaving a trace. And then one day we find, in some summing-up of our life and put attitudes towards experience, that their influence has been enormous.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Certain books impact us deeply without us realizing it until later in life.
In this quote, Anais Nin reflects on the subtle yet profound influence that literature can have on our lives. She suggests that some books, encountered in our youth, may fade from immediate memory but linger in our subconscious, shaping our thoughts, attitudes, and experiences in ways we may not be aware of until we take stock of our lives later on. This highlights the transformative power of literature and the unexpected ways in which it can shape our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
Themes
BooksInfluenceLifeConsciousnessExperience
In practice
Example use cases
During a book club discussion on the impact of literature on personal growth.
More from Anais Nin
All quotes →Anxiety is love's greatest killer, because it is like the stranglehold of the drowning.
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We celebrate peace. Yet we pay no attention to the ways of curing aggression in human beings. And when one sees in psychoanalysis hostility disappearing as people conquer their fears, one wonders if the cure is not there.
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The impetus to grow and live intensely is so powerful in me I cannot resist it. I will work, I will love my husband, but I will fulfill myself.
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We have been poisoned by fairy tales.
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But I lie. I embellish. My words are not deep enough. They disguise, they conceal. I will not rest until I have told of my descent into a sensuality which was as dark, as magnificent, as wild, as my moments of mystic creation have been dazzling, ecstatic, exalted.
Anais NinRead
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