We burned with love for ourselves, all of us, starters of the fire we suffered- our love was the affliction for which only our love was the cure.
Jonathan Safran FoerRead
If we communicated with something like music, we would never be misunderstood, because there is nothing in music to understand...... But until we find this new way of speaking, until we can find a nonapproximate vocabulary, nonsense words are the best thing we've got. Ifactifice is one such word.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Music transcends language barriers, allowing for a form of communication that avoids misunderstandings.
In this quote, Jonathan Safran Foer reflects on the limitations of conventional language and suggests that music, as a universal form of expression, can convey emotions and ideas without ambiguity. He emphasizes the need for a new mode of communication that can articulate human experiences more accurately than words, which often fall short and lend themselves to misinterpretation.
Themes
CommunicationMusicUnderstandingLanguageExpression
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion on the power of art, this quote could be used to emphasize how music communicates emotions.
More from Jonathan Safran Foer
All quotes →Memory was supposed to fill the time, but it made time a hole to be filled. Each second was two hundred yards, to be walked, crawled. You couldn't see the next hour, it was so far in the distance. Tomorrow was over the horizon, and would take an entire day to reach.
Jonathan Safran FoerRead
She was not crying Which surprised me very much But I understand now That she had found places For her melancholy That were behind more masks Than only her eyes
Jonathan Safran FoerRead
What do babies dream of? She must be dreaming of the before-life, just as I dream of the afterlife.
Jonathan Safran FoerRead
A few weeks after the worst day, I started writing lots of letters. I don't know why, but it was one of the only things that made my boots lighter.
Jonathan Safran FoerRead
What is being awake if not interpreting our dreams, or dreaming if not interpreting our wake?
Jonathan Safran FoerRead
Similar quotes
The art of conversation lies in listening.
Malcolm ForbesRead
Good listeners have a huge advantage. For one, when they engage in conversation, they make people 'feel' heard. They 'feel' that someone really understands their wants, needs and desires. And for good reason; a good listener does care to understand.
Simon SinekRead
If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.
Nelson MandelaRead
We cannot be speakers who do not listen. But neither can we be listeners who do not speak.
Mahatma GandhiRead
Speaking is half his that speaks, and half his that hears.
Michel De MontaigneRead
Not only are bloggers suckers for the remarkable, so are the people who read blogs.
Seth GodinRead