QuoteProject
A boy told me if he roller-skated fast enough his loneliness couldn't catch up to him, the best reason I ever heard for trying to be a champion. What I wonder tonight pedaling hard down King William Street is if it translates to bicycles. A victory! To leave your loneliness panting behind you on some street corner while you float free into a cloud of sudden azaleas, pink petals that have never felt loneliness, no matter how slowly they fell.
Naomi Shihab Nye
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote reflects on the idea of overcoming loneliness through personal achievements and moments of joy.

In this thought-provoking quote, the author presents a metaphorical connection between physical activity—such as roller-skating and biking—and the desire to overcome feelings of loneliness. The vivid imagery of leaving loneliness behind is contrasted with the beauty of blooming azaleas, suggesting that personal triumphs can lead to moments of happiness and freedom from emotional burdens.

Themes

LonelinessChampionVictoryHappinessFreedom

In practice

Example use cases

In a motivational talk about perseverance in sports, one could invoke this quote to inspire young athletes.

More from Naomi Shihab Nye

It is really hard to be lonely very long in a world of words. Even if you don't have friends somewhere, you still have language, and it will find you and wrap its little syllables around you and suddenly there will be a story to live in.
Naomi Shihab NyeRead
I am looking for the human who admits his flaws Who shocks the adversary By being kinder not stronger What would that be like? We don't even know
Naomi Shihab NyeRead
I love the solitude of reading. I love the deep dive into someone else's story, the delicious ache of a last page.
Naomi Shihab NyeRead
I think whenever you love something or somebody it means that you have to extend yourself, you have to grow - get a little larger. You can't stay in your little comfortable - spot.
Naomi Shihab NyeRead
As a direct line to human feeling, empathic experience, genuine language and detail, poetry is everything that headline news is not. It takes us inside situations, helps us imagine life from more than one perspective, honors imagery and metaphor - those great tools of thought - and deepens our confidence in a meaningful world.
Naomi Shihab NyeRead
I support all people on earth who have bodies like and unlike my body.
Naomi Shihab NyeRead

Similar quotes

That which is clearly known hath less terror than that which is but hinted at and guessed.
Arthur Conan DoyleRead
We learn our belief systems as very little children, and then we move through life creating experiences to match our beliefs. Look back in your own life and notice how often you have gone through the same experience.
Louise L. HayRead
We are all responsible to Jesus first, and then, under him, to various other persons and offices. Discerning the path of love and obedience when two or more of these submissive relationships collide is a call to humble, Bible-saturated, spiritual wisdom.
John PiperRead
Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you've got about a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies - "God damn it, you've got to be kind."
Kurt VonnegutRead
I'm still learning, you know. At 80, I feel there is a lot I don't know.
Lena HorneRead
Excellent warriors are not violent.
LaoziRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.