QuoteProject
the other guineahen died of a broken heart and we came to New York. I used to sit at a table,drawing wings with a pencil that kept breaking and i kept remembering how your mind looked when it slept for several years,to wake up asking why. So then you turned into a photograph of somebody who’s trying not to laugh at somebody who’s trying not to cry
E. E. Cummings
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote reflects the deep emotional connections we have and the complexities of memory and longing.

E. E. Cummings' quote encapsulates the profound sense of loss and nostalgia, illustrating how the past intertwines with our present emotions. The imagery of drawing wings with a pencil symbolizes attempts to capture fleeting moments or memories, while the contrast between laughter and tears highlights the complexity of human emotions, suggesting that joy and sorrow often coexist.

Themes

LossMemoryEmotionsNostalgiaConnection

In practice

Example use cases

In a speech about remembering loved ones, this quote can highlight the lasting impact they have on our lives.

More from E. E. Cummings

I'd rather have two good friends, than 500,000 admirers.
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When god decided to invent everything he took one reath bigger than a circustent and everything began
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The Artist is no other than he who unlearns what he has learned, in order to know himself.
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Nobody else can be alive for you; nor can you be alive for anybody else.
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