Normal, in our house, is like a blanket too short for a bed--sometimes it covers you just fine, and other times it leaves you cold and shaking; and worst of all, you never know which of the two it's going to be.
Jodi PicoultRead
Asking me to describe my son is like asking me to hold the ocean in a paper cup
Interpretation
What this quote means
Describing a loved one is an immense task that can't be contained in simple terms.
This quote beautifully captures the depth of a parent's love for their child, suggesting that the complexity and magnitude of that love cannot be easily conveyed or contained. Just as a paper cup cannot hold the vastness of an ocean, so too can a mere description fall short of encapsulating the profound experience of parenthood and the uniqueness of a child.
Themes
LoveFamilyParentingDepthEmotion
In practice
Example use cases
Using this quote in a speech about parental love at a family gathering.
More from Jodi Picoult
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But if you seek forgiveness, doesn't that automatically mean you cannot be a monster? By definition, doesn't that desperation make you human again?
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when you [lose someone], it feels like the hole in your gum when a tooth falls out. You can chew, you can eat, you have plenty of other teeth, but your tongue keeps going back to that empty place, where all nerves are still a little raw
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Our dad hugged us and kissed us so much that some friends and relatives complained that he was going to turn us into sissies or homosexuals. But my dad didn't care. Let them raise their kids in a reserved and reticent way. He grew up in Israel, and his boys were going to be hugged and kissed by their father and know they were loved.
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