You imagine the carefully pruned, shaped thing that is presented to you is truth. That is just what it isn't. The truth is improbable, the truth is fantastic; it's in what you think is a distorting mirror that you see the truth.
Jean RhysRead
that expression you get in your eyes when you are very tired and everything is like a dream and you are starting to know what things are like underneath what people say they are.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects the deep understanding that comes from fatigue and introspection, revealing truths beyond superficial appearances.
Jean Rhys captures a moment of introspection that arises from exhaustion, suggesting that when one is physically drained, they can perceive the underlying realities of life that are often masked by societal facades. This state of being allows for a clarity of thought and awareness where true understanding begins to emerge, highlighting the contrast between what is said and what truly exists beneath the surface.
Themes
TruthPerceptionFatigueUnderstandingReality
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech about the importance of self-awareness.
More from Jean Rhys
All quotes →If I was bound for hell, let it be hell. No more false heaven. No more damned magic.
Jean RhysRead
The musty smell, the bugs, the lonliness, this room, which is part of the street outside-this is all I want from life.
Jean RhysRead
Yes, I am sad, sad as a circus-lioness, sad as an eagle without wings, sad as a violin with only one string and that one broken, sad as a woman who is growing old. Sad, sad, sad.
Jean RhysRead
My life, which seems so simple and monotonous, is really a complicated affair of cafés where they like me and cafés where they don't, streets that are friendly, streets that aren't, rooms where I might be happy, rooms where I shall never be, looking-glasses I look nice in, looking-glasses I don't, dresses that will be lucky, dresses that won't, and so on.
Jean RhysRead
I must write. If I stop writing my life will have been an abject failure. It is that already to other people. But it could be an abject failure to myself. I will not have earned death.
Jean RhysRead
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