I love walking into a bookstore. It's like all my friends are sitting on shelves, waving their pages at me.
Tahereh MafiRead
I spent my life folded between the pages of books._x000D_ In the absence of human relationships I formed bonds with paper characters. I lived love and loss through stories threaded in history; I experienced adolescence by association. My world is one interwoven web of words, stringing limb to limb, bone to sinew, thoughts and images all together. I am a being comprised of letters, a character created by sentences, a figment of imagination formed through fiction.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses the profound connection between literature and personal identity, highlighting how books shape one's experiences and emotions.
Tahereh Mafi's quote reflects on the deep influence literature has on an individual's life. It illustrates how, in the absence of real-life relationships, the author found solace and companionship in books, allowing her to experience love, loss, and growth through fictional characters and narratives. This idea emphasizes the power of storytelling and written words in constructing one's identity and emotional landscape, essentially merging the reader with the story.
Themes
LiteratureIdentityImaginationStoriesRelationshipsBooks
In practice
Example use cases
In a book club discussion about the impact of literature on personal development.
More from Tahereh Mafi
All quotes →The moon is a loyal companion._x000D_ It never leaves. It’s always there, watching, steadfast, knowing us in our light and dark moments, changing forever just as we do. Every day it’s a different version of itself. Sometimes weak and wan, sometimes strong and full of light. The moon understands what it means to be human._x000D_ Uncertain. Alone. Cratered by imperfections.
Tahereh MafiRead
Similar quotes
I have a mess in my head sometimes, and there's something very satisfying about putting it into words. Certainly it's not something that you're in charge of, necessarily, but writing about it, putting it into your words, can be a very powerful experience.
Carrie FisherRead
Any subject is good for opera if the composer feels it so intently he must sing it out.
Gian Carlo MenottiRead
I view my hair and clothes as functional art.
Erykah BaduRead
The most extraordinary discoveries are made when the artist is overwhelmed by what he has to say.
Boris PasternakRead
The distinction between a gallery and a museum is enormous. The gallery is about looking at a thing of beauty; the purpose of the activity is an aesthetic response. The museum is actually about the object that lets you get into somebody else's life.
Neil MacgregorRead
Photography is not about the thing photographed. It is about how that thing looks photographed.
Garry WinograndRead