Heart, we will forget him, You and I, tonight! You must forget the warmth he gave, I will forget the light.
Emily DickinsonRead
The only secret people keep is immortality.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that the concept of immortality is the only truth that people hide or avoid discussing openly.
Emily Dickinson's quote highlights the universal human preoccupation with mortality and the secretiveness surrounding the idea of immortality. It implies that while people may openly discuss many topics, the reality of death and the desire for eternal life are often left unspoken, hinting at a deep existential fear and a longing for permanence that is rarely acknowledged in public discourse.
Themes
ImmortalityDeathSecretsExistentialismHuman Experience
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture about the human relationship with death, one may quote Dickinson to illustrate the societal reluctance to address mortality.
More from Emily Dickinson
All quotes βI 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,β The gem was gone; And now an amethyst remembrance Is all I own.
Emily DickinsonRead
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!
Emily DickinsonRead
My best Acquaintances are those With Whom I spoke no Word
Emily DickinsonRead
This is the Hour of Lead- Remembered, if outlived, As freezing persons, recollect the Snow- First-Chill-then Stupor- then the letting go---
Emily DickinsonRead
Luck is not chance, it's toil; fortune's expensive smile is earned.
Emily DickinsonRead
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Zygmunt BaumanRead
A few years ago, the city council of Monza, Italy, barred pet owners from keeping goldfish in curved bowls... saying that it is cruel to keep a fish in a bowl with curved sides because, gazing out, the fish would have a distorted view of reality. But how do we know we have the true, undistorted picture of reality?
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Ahimsa is the highest duty. Even if we cannot practice it in full, we must try to understand its spirit and refrain as far as is humanly possible from violence.
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The accent of a man's native country remains in his mind and his heart, as it does in his speech.
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Empires do not suffer emptiness of purpose at the time of their creation. It is when they have become established that aims are lost and replaced by vague ritual.
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