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We outgrow love like other things and put it in a drawer, till it an antique fashion shows like costumes grandsires wore.
Emily Dickinson
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Love evolves over time and can be set aside like old belongings, often reminiscing about its past form.

In this quote, Emily Dickinson reflects on the transient nature of love, suggesting that as we change and grow, our feelings of love can also diminish or transform, much like items we no longer use but keep tucked away for nostalgia. Love, in this sense, is depicted as something we may revisit, seeing it as an artifact of our emotional history, untouched yet ever-present in our memory.

Themes

LoveChangeNostalgiaMemoryGrowth

In practice

Example use cases

In a speech about the passage of time, one could use this quote to reflect on how relationships evolve.

More from Emily Dickinson

Heart, we will forget him, You and I, tonight! You must forget the warmth he gave, I will forget the light.
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I held a jewel in my fingers And went to sleep. The day was warm, and winds were prosy; I said: "'T will keep." I woke and chid my honest fingers,— The gem was gone; And now an amethyst remembrance Is all I own.
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I'll tell you how the sun rose, a ribbon at a time. The steeples swam in amethyst, The news like squirrels ran. The hills untied their bonnets, The bobolinks begun. Then I said softly to myself, "That must have been the sun!
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My best Acquaintances are those With Whom I spoke no Word
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This is the Hour of Lead- Remembered, if outlived, As freezing persons, recollect the Snow- First-Chill-then Stupor- then the letting go---
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Luck is not chance, it's toil; fortune's expensive smile is earned.
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