Loneliness had taught Harriet that there was always someone who understood - it was just so often that they were dead, and in a book.
Interpretation
Loneliness can lead to the realization that wisdom and understanding often come from those who have passed, particularly through literature.
In this quote by Eva Ibbotson, the speaker reflects on the profound lesson learned from loneliness: that connection and understanding can often be found through the written word. Although loved ones may no longer be present, their thoughts, feelings, and experiences can be explored in books, providing solace and companionship even in solitude.
In practice
Sharing this quote during a book club meeting to emphasize the importance of literature in overcoming loneliness.
We wait all these years to find someone who understands us, I thought, someone who accepts us as we are, someone with a wizard's power to melt stone to sunlight, who can bring us happiness in spite of trials, who can face our dragons in the night, who can transform us into the soul we choose to be. Just yesterday I found that magical Someone is the face we see in the mirror: It's us and our homemade masks.
Word by word, the language of women so often begins with a whisper.
There are subtle ways and overt ways of alienating a child from a parent, but either way it's evil
Dating is pressure and tension. What is a date, really, but a job interview that lasts all night?
A lot of my chosen family is black and I say that unabashedly. For anyone who doesn't understand that, they just don't understand me and my generation because especially in the LGBT community, the concept of chosen family is so important and it's a survival tactic.
When I have attempted to join myself to others by services, it proved an intellectual trick,-no more. They eat your service like apples, and leave you out. But love them, and they feel you, and delight in you all the time.
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