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A ship's engine far away on the water expands the summer-night horizon. Both joy and sorrow swell in the dew's magnifying glass. Without really knowing, we divine; our life has a sister ship, following quietly another route. While the sun blazes behind the islands.
Tomas Transtromer
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Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote reflects on the interconnectedness of life, joy, and sorrow, suggesting that our experiences are shared and parallel to others, even when unseen.

Tomas Transtromer's quote poetically illustrates the intricate relationship between joy and sorrow, likening them to ships navigating different but parallel courses in life. The imagery of the engine expanding the horizon and the dew serving as a magnifying glass speaks to how we perceive our experiences, acknowledging the unseen journeys of others that mirror our own. In essence, it invites reflection on the shared human experience and the hidden connections we have with one another, even in solitude.

Themes

LifeJoySorrowConnectionExperienceJourney

In practice

Example use cases

In a keynote speech about the shared experiences of humanity, this quote can highlight our interconnectedness.

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It's always so early in here, before the crossroads, before the irrevocable choices. Thank you for this life! Still I miss the alternatives. The sketches, all of them, want to become real.
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I am carried in my shadow like a violin in its black case
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Quote by Tomas Transtromer | QuoteProject