What was any art but a mould in which to imprison for a moment the shining elusive element which is life itself - life hurrying past us and running away, too strong to stop, too sweet to lose.
Willa CatherRead
I've seen it before. There are women who spread ruin through no fault of theirs, just by being too beautiful, too ful of life and love. They can't help it. Poeple come to them as people go to a warm fire in winter.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Beauty and vitality can attract people, leading to unintended consequences.
This quote reflects on the profound impact that beauty and vivacity can have on relationships, suggesting that those who possess these traits may inadvertently bring about chaos in the lives of those who are drawn to them. Willa Cather highlights the complexity of attraction, illustrating how some individuals may suffer from the burdens of being desired, as people are instinctively drawn to them like moths to a flame.
Themes
BeautyAttractionRelationshipsLoveConsequences
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion on the challenges faced by public figures, one might quote this to illustrate the burdens of beauty.
More from Willa Cather
All quotes →That is happiness; to be dissolved into something complete and great.
Willa CatherRead
Our tree became the talking tree of the fairy tale; legends and stories nestled like birds in its branches.
Willa CatherRead
Writing ought either to be the manufacture of stories for which there is a market demand - a business as safe and commendable as making soap or breakfast foods - or it should be an art, which is always a search for something for which there is no market demand, something new and untried, where the values are intrinsic and have nothing to do with standardized values.
Willa CatherRead
The air and the earth interpenetrated in the warm gusts of spring; the soil was full of sunlight, and the sunlight full of red dust. The air one breathed was saturated with earthy smells, and the grass under foot had a reflection of the blue sky in it.
Willa CatherRead
This is reality, whether you like it or not--all those frivolities of summer, the light and shadow, the living mask of green that trembled over everything, they were lies, and this is what was underneath. This is the truth.
Willa CatherRead
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