She knew the intensity of adolescence, and knew no cure for it except growing up. And then one has age and experience, and mourns the loss of intensity. Maybe it's why musicians and mathmaticians are said to peak young-poetry needs the fire of an unbounded universe.
The hardest thing about adolescence is that everything seems too big. There's no way to get context or perspective, ..... Pain and joy without limits. No one can live like that forever, so experience finally comes to our rescue. We come to know what we can endure, and also that nothing endures.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Adolescence brings overwhelming emotions and experiences that feel limitless, but with time, we gain perspective and learn about endurance.
This quote reflects the tumultuous nature of adolescence, highlighting how young individuals often perceive their emotions and experiences as immense and unmanageable. It suggests that the pain and joy of this stage are intense and can feel eternal; however, as one matures, they gain the wisdom and context needed to understand their experiences. Through this process, we learn about our own resilience and come to appreciate that all things, whether good or bad, are transient.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a youth seminar focusing on emotional health, this quote can illustrate the challenges of growing up.
More from Sara Paretsky
All quotes →Similar quotes
I do take very good care of myself, and I'm always in love. And by that I mean I have an appetite for life. I'm in love with beauty and things and people and love and being in love, and those things I think, on the inside, show on the outside.
The truth is, I'm just a rough old New Zealander who has enjoyed many challenges in his life.
That the sum of a man's life was not where he wound up but in the details that brought him there. That we made mistakes. I closed my eyes, sick of the riddles, and to my surprise all I could see were dandelions-as if they had been painted on the fields of my imagination, a hundred thousand suns. And I remembered something else that makes us human: faith, the only weapon in our arsenal to battle doubt.
When men die, they die in fear", he said. "They take everything they need from you, and as a doctor it is your job to give it, to comfort them, to hold their hand. But children die how they have been living - in hope. They don't know what's happening, so they expect nothing, they don't ask you to hold their hand - but you end up needing them to hold yours. With children, you're on your own. Do you understand?
Adoption was such a positive alternative to abortion, a way to save one life and brighten two more: those of the adoptive parents.
Don't worry about who doesn't like you, who has more, or who's doing what.