Every woman I had ever met who walked through the world appraised and classified by an extraordinary physicality had also received the keys to an unbearable solitude. It was the coefficient of their beauty, the price they had to pay.
Interpretation
True beauty often comes at the cost of loneliness and isolation.
This quote reflects on the paradox of beauty, suggesting that while being extraordinarily beautiful can attract attention and admiration, it can also lead to feelings of solitude and emotional distance from others. Pat Conroy highlights the complexity of beauty, indicating that those who possess it may find themselves isolated due to the expectations and judgments it brings.
In practice
In a discussion about the loneliness experienced by public figures, this quote can be a poignant reflection.
It enclosed us in its laceries as we watched the moon spill across the Atlantic like wine from an overturned glass. With the light all around us, we felt secret in that moon-infused water like pearls forming in the soft tissues of oysters.
A recipe is a story that ends with a good meal.
Teach them the quiet words of kindness, to live beyond themselves. Urge them toward excellence, drive them toward gentleness, pull them deep into yourself, pull them upward toward manhood, but softly like an angel arranging clouds. Let your spirit move through them softly.
I loved my parents... but that can never change the fact that my father's violence ruined my childhood.
The most powerful words in English are 'Tell me a story,' words that are intimately related to the complexity of history, the origins of language, the continuity of the species, the taproot of our humanity, our singularity, and art itself.
To Southerners like my mother, 'Gone With the Wind' was not just a book; it was an answer, a clenched fist raised to the North, an anthem of defiance.
Early in life, I had to choose between honest arrogance and hypocritical humility. I chose honest arrogance and have seen no occasion to change
Do good with what thou hast, or it will do thee no good.
A true Brahmachari will not even dream of satisfying the fleshly appetite
All I can say is I did the best I could, and I didn't do well enough on many occasions.
Knowledge is great. Competence is great. But the combination of both encourages people to trust you and increases your powers of enchantment. And in this world, the combination is a breath of fresh air.
Meditation gives you the wherewithal to pause, observe how easily the mind can exaggerate the severity of a setback, and resist getting drawn into the abyss.
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