Herman slipped his hand into mine, and I thought, An average of seventy-four species become extinct every day, which was one good reason but not the only one to hold someone's hand, and the next thing that happened was we kissed each other, and I found I knew how, and I felt happy and sad in equal parts, because I knew that I was falling in love, but it wasn't with him.
Interpretation
The quote explores the complexity of emotions in a moment of connection, juxtaposing love with the sadness of loss.
In this quote, the author reflects on a poignant moment of intimacy that is overshadowed by the knowledge of loss and extinction. The act of holding hands and sharing a kiss symbolizes the beauty of love, while the reference to species extinction evokes a sense of sadness and transience, illustrating how love often coexists with bittersweet emotions, particularly when it isn't fully reciprocated or when one realizes that their feelings are complicated.
In practice
During a speech about the importance of cherishing connections, this quote can illustrate the complexity of emotions we experience.
To touch and feel each thing in the world, to know it by sight and by name, and then to know it with your eyes closed so that when something is gone, it can be recognized by the shape of its absence. So that you can continue to possess the lost, because absence is the only constant thing. Because you can get free of everything except the space where things have been.
For her I changed pebbles into diamonds, shoes into mirrors, I changed glass into water, I gave her wings and pulled birds from her ears and in her pockets she found the feathers, I asked a pear to become a pineapple, a pineapple to become a lightbulb, a lightbulb to become the moon, and the moon to become a coin I flipped for her love.
Only later did I come to understand that to be a mother is to be an illusion. No matter how vigilant, in the end a mother can't protect her child - not from pain, or horror, or the nightmare of violence, from sealed trains moving rapidly in the wrong direction, the depravity of strangers, trapdoors, abysses, fires, cars in the rain, from chance.
I’ve always liked the feeling of traveling light; there is something in me that wants to feel I could leave wherever I am, at any time, without any effort. The idea of being weighed down made me uneasy, as if I lived on the surface of a frozen lake and each new trapping of domestic life - a pot, a chair, a lamp - threatened to be the thing that sent me through the ice.
When we went into the ocean, I watched his body as he dove into the waves, and it gave me a feeling in my stomach that wasn't an ache but something different.
Once upon a time there was a boy who lived in a house across the field from a girl who no longer exists. They made up a thousand games. She was Queen and he was King. In the autumn light, her hair shone like a crown. They collected the world in small handfuls. When the sky grew dark they parted with leaves in their hair.
People who are obsessed with Jesus do not consider service a burden. Obsessed people take joy in loving God by loving His people (Mt 13:44)(Jn 15:8).
The person one loves never really exists, but is a projection focused through the lens of the mind onto whatever screen it fits with least distortion.
Never love a wild thing...If you let yourself love a wild thing. You'll end up looking at the sky.
In the middle of my heart, a star appeared, and the seven heavens were lost in its brilliance.
Romantic love is one of the most addictive substances on Earth.
I became aware that the invincible power that has moved the world is unrequited, not happy, love.
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