It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
Life rises out of death, death rises out of life; in being opposite they yearn to each other, they give birth to each other and are forever reborn. And with them, all is reborn, the flower of the apple tree, the light of the stars. In life is death. In death is rebirth. What then is life without death? Life unchanging, everlasting, eternal?-What is it but death-death without rebirth?
Interpretation
What this quote means
Life and death are interconnected, each giving rise to the other, highlighting the cyclical nature of existence.
This quote by Ursula K. Le Guin emphasizes the profound relationship between life and death, illustrating how they are opposites that inherently depend on one another. Through this cyclical lens, life cannot exist without death, as each phase nurtures the other, and the concept of rebirth underscores the continuous transformation of existence, making it rich and meaningful.
Themes
LifeDeathRebirthCycleExistenceTransformation
In practice
Example use cases
This quote would be perfect for a discussion on the importance of accepting mortality.
More from Ursula K. Le Guin
All quotes →In reading a novel, any novel, we have to know perfectly well that the whole thing is nonsense, and then, while reading, believe every word of it. Finally, when we're done with it, we may find - if it's a good novel - that we're a bit different from what we were before we read it, that we have changed a little... But it's very hard to say just what we learned, how we were changed.
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Reason is a faculty far larger than mere objective force. When either the political or the scientific discourse announces itself as the voice of reason, it is playing God, and should be spanked and stood in the corner.
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The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty; not knowing what comes next.
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We read books to find out who we are. What other people, real or imaginary, do and think and feel... is an essential guide to our understanding of what we ourselves are and may become.
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When he found that the administrators were upset, he laughed. “Do they expect students not to be anarchists?” he said. “What else can the young be? When you are on the bottom, you must organize from the bottom up
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
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