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I don't want to sit on the sidelines and not value the gift of being here. Instead of the idea of time ticking away, the grains of sand running out, I try to think of time as giving me another grain of sand, another gift. So time passing is an accumulation, rather than a diminishing.
Tori Amos
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote emphasizes valuing time as a gift rather than a loss.

Tori Amos reflects on the nature of time, suggesting that instead of viewing it as something that depletes, we should see it as a precious accumulation of moments. This perspective encourages us to appreciate our existence and the opportunities each moment brings, prompting us to engage fully in life rather than remain passive observers.

Themes

TimeGiftLifeReflectionAppreciation

In practice

Example use cases

In a graduation speech to encourage students to value their time ahead.

More from Tori Amos

Healing for me is being able to sit next to the butcher and say 'Yes, I’m sitting next to the butcher now,' instead of saying 'there is no butcher'.
Tori AmosRead
When you stop putting yourself on the line, and you don't touch your own heart, how do you expect to touch other people?
Tori AmosRead
If you can't create physical life, you find a life force. If that's in music, that's in music. I started to find this deep, primitive rhythm, and I started to move to it. And I held hands with sorrow, and I danced with her, and we giggled a bit.
Tori AmosRead
I don't mind a dirty girl. But what I find tragic is when we, as women, become not the subject of our own story but someone else's object.
Tori AmosRead
For many years, I shut down that place inside myself that needed to rage, cry, ask questions and basically just express herself. I made a conscious choice when I put (the song) 'Me and a Gun' on the record not to stay a victim anymore.
Tori AmosRead
From in the shadow she calls. And in the shadow she finds a way, finds a way. And in the shadow she crawls, clutching her faded photograph. My image under her thumb. Yes with a message for my heart. She’s been everybody else’s girl maybe one day she’ll be her own.
Tori AmosRead

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