They don't ask much of you. They only want you to hate the things you love and to love the things you despise.
Boris PasternakRead
Our evenings are farewells. Our parties are testaments. So that the secret stream of suffering. May warm the cold of life.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the duality of joy and suffering in life, suggesting that celebrations can be reminders of loss.
Boris Pasternak's quote poignantly illustrates the complexity of human experiences, where moments of joy, such as parties, serve as both celebrations and reminders of the inevitable farewells that punctuate our lives. The 'secret stream of suffering' suggests that beneath the surface of our cheerful gatherings lies an undercurrent of pain and sadness that permeates existence, indicating that the richness of life is often intertwined with sorrow.
Themes
SufferingLifeJoyFarewellCelebration
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a eulogy to highlight the contrast between joyful memories and the sorrow of loss.
More from Boris Pasternak
All quotes βEven so, one step from my grave, I believe that cruelty, spite, The powers of darkness will in time, Be crushed by the spirit of light.
Boris PasternakRead
He is her glory. Any woman could say it. For every one of them, God is in her child. Mothers of great men must have been familiar with this feeling, but then, all women are mothers of great men -- it isn't their fault if life disappoints them later.
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The most extraordinary discoveries are made when the artist is overwhelmed by what he has to say.
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Oh, how one wishes sometimes to escape from the meaningless dullness of human eloquence, from all those sublime phrases, to take refuge in nature, apparently so inarticulate, or in the wordlessness of long, grinding labor, of sound sleep, of true music, or of a human understanding rendered speechless by emotion!
Boris PasternakRead
They loved each other, not driven by necessity, by the "blaze of passion" often falsely ascribed to love. They loved each other because everything around them willed it, the trees and the clouds and the sky over their heads and the earth under their feet.
Boris PasternakRead
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