Literature has as one of its principal allures that it tells you something about life that life itself can't tell you. I just thought literature is a thing that human beings do.
Richard FordRead
When you are sixteen you do not know what your parents know, or much of what they understand, and less of what's in their hearts. This can save you from becoming an adult too early, save your life from becoming only theirs lived over again--which is a loss. But to shield yourself--as I didn't do--seems to be an even greater error, since what's lost is the truth of your parents' life and what you should think about it, and beyond that, how you should estimate the world you are about to live in.
Interpretation
This quote highlights the complexities of understanding and appreciating parents during adolescence.
Richard Ford reflects on the nuanced relationship between teenagers and their parents, emphasizing that at sixteen, one often lacks the maturity to grasp their parents' experiences and emotions. He suggests that while ignorance can protect a young person from early adulthood, embracing this understanding is essential for developing a true perspective on life and the world beyond one's immediate experiences.
In practice
This quote can be shared during a parenting workshop to emphasize the importance of open communication.
Literature has as one of its principal allures that it tells you something about life that life itself can't tell you. I just thought literature is a thing that human beings do.
Any rainy summer morning, of course, has the seeds of gloomy alienation sown in. But a rainy summer morning far from home - when your personal clouds don't move but hang - can easily produce the feeling of the world as seen from the grave. This I know.
Marry somebody you love and who thinks you being a writer's a good idea.
It is at least a small comfort to me, as a gay rights and marriage equality advocate, to know that like any marriage, gay and lesbian couples are subject to the same complications and hardships that afflict marriages between heterosexual couples.
Although I may not be my brother's keeper, I am my brother's brother, and 'because I have been given much, I too must give.'
Men and women aren't the same. And they won't be the same. That doesn't mean that they can't be treated fairly.
I was called a 'CD' by a suicidal teenager, who is alive today because I became her 'Chosen Dad,' who loved her. We all have the potential to re-parent ourselves and others.
A man looks pretty small at a wedding, George. All those good women standing shoulder to shoulder, making sure that the knot's tied in a mighty public way.
Muslims should live like brothers.
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