...we shall board our imagined ship and wildly sail among sacred islands of the mad till death shatters the fabulous stars and makes us real.
Sylvia PlathRead
Perhaps when we find ourselves wanting everything, it is because we are dangerously close to wanting nothing.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the idea that excessive desire can lead to a lack of fulfillment or emptiness.
Sylvia Plath's quote suggests that an overwhelming desire for everything around us may indicate a deeper issue of dissatisfaction or emptiness within. It emphasizes the paradox that in our pursuit of accumulating desires and wants, we may inadvertently approach a state where we feel disconnected from all meaning and purpose, leading us to feel as if we want nothing at all.
Themes
DesireEmptinessContentmentSatisfactionWanting
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be shared in a conversation about materialism and its effects on happiness.
More from Sylvia Plath
All quotes βThe hardest thing, I think, is to live richly in the present, without letting it be tainted & spoiled out of fear for the future or regret for a badly-managed past.
Sylvia PlathRead
It is as if my life were magically run by two electric currents: joyous positive and despairing negative--which ever is running at the moment dominates my life, floods it.
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You walked in, laughing, tears welling confused, mingling in your throat. How can you be so many women to so many people, oh you strange girl?
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I keep wanting to crawl back into the womb.
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It's the living, the eating, the sleeping that everyone needs. Ideas don't matter so much after all. My three best friends are Catholic. I can't see their beliefs, but I can see the things they love to do on earth. When you come right down to it, I do believe in the freedom of the individual.
Sylvia PlathRead
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