When I look at my life I realise that the mistakes I have made, the things I really regret, were not errors of judgement but failures of feeling.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes that true regrets stem from emotional failures rather than poor decisions.
Jeanette Winterson reflects on her life, suggesting that the deepest regrets arise not from bad judgment or decisions, but rather from moments where she failed to connect with her feelings. This implies that emotional intelligence and awareness are crucial for leading a fulfilling life, highlighting the importance of understanding our emotions in making choices.
In practice
During a motivational speech about resilience and emotional awareness.
What is remembered is not a deed in stone but a metaphor. Meta = above. Pheren = to carry. That which is carried above the literalness of life. A way of thinking that avoids the problems of gravity. The word won't let me down. The single word that can release me from all that unuttered weight.
Reading things that are relevant to the facts of your life is of limited value. The facts are, after all, only the facts, and the yearning passionate part of you will not be met there. That is why reading ourselves as a fiction as well as fact is so liberating. The wider we read the freer we become.
I have a list of titles that I leave at the [library] desk, because they are bound to be written some day, and it's best to be ahead of the queue.
Woolf wanted to say dangerous things in Orlando but she did not want to say them in the missionary position.
In that house, you will find my heart. You must break in, Henri, and get it back for me.' Was she mad? We had been talking figuratively. Her heart was in her body like mine. I tried to explain this to her, but she took my hand and put it against her chest. Feel for yourself.
History is a string full of knots, the best you can do is admire it, and maybe tie it up a bit more. History is a hammock for swinging and a game for playing.
There are lazy minds as well as lazy bodies.
I always tell young girls, surround yourself with goodness. I learned early on how to get the haters out of my life.
Progress would not have been the rarity it is if the early food had not been the late poison.
There are two times in a man's life when he should not speculate: when he can't afford it, and when he can.
As any action or posture, long continued, will distort and disfigure the limbs, so the mind likewise is crippled and contracted by perpetual application to the same set of ideas.
Words without actions are the assassins of idealism.
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