And enough for me that when my hand touched your shoulder, you leaned on me; and when you felt me slip away, you called my name.
Orson Scott CardRead
Welcome to the human race. Nobody controls his own life, Ender.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Life is unpredictable and influenced by various factors beyond one's control.
This quote expresses the idea that humans are part of a larger web of existence, where individual autonomy is limited by external circumstances. It suggests that while we may strive for control over our own lives, many forces—be they social, environmental, or relational—shape our experiences and actions in ways we cannot entirely dictate.
Themes
AutonomyControlLifeExistenceInfluence
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a motivational speech about resilience in the face of life's unpredictability.
More from Orson Scott Card
All quotes →The world is always a democracy in times of flux, and the man with the best voice will win.
Orson Scott CardRead
Never mind that the story had turned out to be lies and foolishness—there was always folks stupid enough to say, Where there's smoke there's fire, when the saying should have been, Where there's scandalous lies there's always malicious believers and spreaders-around, regardless of evidence.
Orson Scott CardRead
The lives of all people flow through time, and, regardless of how brutal one moment may be, how filled with grief or pain or fear, time flows through all lives equally.
Orson Scott CardRead
You take a step, then another. That's the journey. But to take a step with your eyes open is not a journey at all, it's a remaking of your own mind.
Orson Scott CardRead
I've had your tears with mine, and you've had mine with yours. I think that's more intimate even than a kiss.
Orson Scott CardRead
Similar quotes
Psychology is action, not thinking about oneself. We continue to shape our personality all our life. To know oneself, one should assert oneself.
Albert CamusRead
Memory is a barricade against forgetting; light is a bulwark against darkness; life is a flex against the stillness of the grave. Maybe that's what I'm trying to do here, clear a space in all the debris, through all the anxieties and worries, where I can just exist, easily and simply, entire, for as long as I have left.
Helen HumphreysRead
The Christian world is in a deep sleep; nothing but a loud shout can awaken them out of it!
George WhitefieldRead
Romans, countrymen, and lovers, hear me for my cause, and be silent, that you may hear.
William ShakespeareRead
The deeper the experience of an absence of meaning - in other words, of absurdity - the more energetically meaning is sought.
Vaclav HavelRead
No one is born just once. If you're lucky, you'll emerge again in someone's arms; or unlucky, wake when the long tail of terror brushes the inside of your skull.
Anne MichaelsRead