But how awful would that be? How terrible to live surrounded by the stark, sharp, hollowness of things that simply were enough?
Patrick RothfussRead
When we are children we seldom think of the future. This innocence leaves us free to enjoy ourselves as few adults can. The day we fret about the future is the day we leave our childhood behind.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Children enjoy life without worrying about the future, a freedom that adults often lose.
This quote reflects on the carefree nature of childhood and highlights the contrast with adult life, where concerns about the future can overshadow present joys. It suggests that the innocence of youth allows for a genuine enjoyment of life, while the pressures of adulthood often come with anxiety about what lies ahead, marking the loss of that childhood freedom.
Themes
ChildhoodInnocenceFutureFreedomEnjoyment
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of creativity, one might include this quote to emphasize the need to retain childlike wonder.
More from Patrick Rothfuss
All quotes →I wanted to tell her that she was the first beautiful thing I had seen in three years. That the sight of her yawning to the back of her hand was enough to drive the breath from me. How I sometimes lost the sense of her words in the sweet fluting of her voice. I wanted to say that if she were with me then somehow nothing could ever be wrong for me again.
Patrick RothfussRead
Using words to talk of words is like using a pencil to draw a picture of itself, on itself. Impossible. Confusing. Frustrating ... but there are other ways to understanding.
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Words are pale shadows of forgotten names. As names have power, words have power. Words can light fires in the minds of men. Words can wring tears from the hardest hearts. There are seven words that will make a person love you. There are ten words that will break a strong man's will. But a word is nothing but a painting of a fire. A name is the fire itself.
Patrick RothfussRead
How odd to watch a mortal kindle / Then to dwindle day by day / Knowing their bright souls are tinder / And the wind will have its way
Patrick RothfussRead
All the truth in the world is held in stories.
Patrick RothfussRead
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