Gossip says she hanged herself from the turret on the tower, but when you have a house like Hill House with a tower and a turret, gossip would hardly allow you to hang yourself anywhere else.
Shirley JacksonRead
Journeys end in lovers meeting; I have spent an all but sleepless night, I have told lies and made a fool of myself, and the very air tastes like wine. I have been frightened half out of my foolish wits, but I have somehow earned this joy; I have been waiting for it for so long.
Interpretation
The quote reflects the joy and complexity of love, highlighting the emotional journey it entails.
In this quote, Shirley Jackson captures the essence of romantic love and the myriad experiences that accompany it. The speaker describes a tumultuous journey filled with sleepless nights, fear, and self-doubt, yet ultimately conveys a profound sense of joy that comes from the culmination of love. It speaks to the idea that the path to love can be fraught with challenges, but the rewards make it all worthwhile, suggesting that true love is a destination that is eagerly awaited.
In practice
This quote is perfect for a wedding toast celebrating the couple's journey together.
Gossip says she hanged herself from the turret on the tower, but when you have a house like Hill House with a tower and a turret, gossip would hardly allow you to hang yourself anywhere else.
It watches," he added suddenly. "The house. It watches every move you make.
There had not been this many words sounded in our house for a long time, and it was going to take a while to clean them out.
Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone.
I can't help it when people are frightened," says Merricat. "I always want to frighten them more.
I was pretending that I did not speak their language; on the moon we spoke a soft, liquid tongue, and sang in the starlight, looking down on the dead dried world.
I want people to fall in love with themselves and to be really proud and full of joy for the space they take up. If someone else appreciates the space you take up, then that's icing on the cake.
There is no shame in loving. If your septons say there is, your seven gods must be demons. In the isles we know better. Our gods gave us legs to run with, noses to smell with, hands to touch and feel. What mad cruel god would give a man eyes and tell him he must forever keep them shut, and never look at all the beauty in the world? Only a monster god, a demon of the darkness.
Falling in love is not an extension of one's limits or boundaries; it is a partial and temporary collapse of them.
We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.
He hadn’t once ceased looking at Daisy, and I think he revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes. Sometimes, too, he stared around at his possessions in a dazed way, as though in her actual and astounding presence none of it was any longer real.
To all, I would say how mistaken they are when they think that they stop falling in love when they grow old, without knowing that they grow old when they stop falling in love...
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