A short story is the ultimate close-up magic trick -- a couple of thousand words to take you around the universe or break your heart.
Neil GaimanRead
And if there's a moral there, I don't know what it is, save maybe that we should take our goodbyes whenever we can.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests the importance of taking moments to say goodbye to loved ones or experiences while we still can.
Neil Gaiman's quote reflects on the often overlooked significance of goodbyes in our lives. It implies that we should not postpone saying farewell, as these moments can hold great value and potential meaning. In an unpredictable world, acknowledging goodbyes can serve as a reminder to cherish our connections and experiences, ensuring we embrace closure when it is available to us.
Themes
GoodbyeClosureCherishConnectionsMoments
In practice
Example use cases
During a farewell party, you could quote this to emphasize the importance of taking the time to cherish those goodbyes.
More from Neil Gaiman
All quotes →Jesus. Low-Key Lyesmith," said Shadow. and then he heard what he was saying and he understood. "Loki," he said. "Loki Lie-smith." "You're slow," said Loki, "but you get there in the end." And his lips twisted into a scarred smile and the embers danced in the shadows of his eyes.
Neil GaimanRead
As a teenager I wrote to R.A. Lafferty. And he responded, too, with letters that were like R.A. Lafferty short stories, filled with elliptical answers to straight questions and simple answers to complicated ones.
Neil GaimanRead
The important thing to understand about American history, wrote Mr. Ibis, in his leather-bound journal, is that it is fictional, a charcoal-sketched simplicity for the children, or the easily bored.
Neil GaimanRead
Nothing’s changed. You’ll go home. You’ll be bored. You’ll be ignored. No one will listen to you, really listen to you. You’re too clever and too quiet for them to understand. They don’t even get your name right.
Neil GaimanRead
I like the stars. It's the illusion of permanence, I think. I mean, they're always flaring up and caving in and going out. But from here, I can pretend...I can pretend that things last. I can pretend that lives last longer than moments. Gods come, and gods go. Mortals flicker and flash and fade. Worlds don't last; and stars and galaxies are transient, fleeting things that twinkle like fireflies and vanish into cold and dust. But I can pretend.
Neil GaimanRead
Similar quotes
Yes. He is quite a good fellow - nobody's enemy but his own.
Charles DickensRead
Arrogance on the part of the meritorious is even more offensive to us than the arrogance of those without merit: for merit itself is offensive.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
If there is a knower of tongues here, fetch him; There's a stranger in the city And he has many things to say.
Mirza Asadullah Khan GhalibRead
When a young man, I read somewhere the following: God the Almighty said, 'All that is too complex is unnecessary, and it is simple that is needed.' So this has been my lifetime motto – I have been creating weapons to defend the borders of my fatherland, to be simple and reliable.
Mikhail KalashnikovRead
Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either - but right through every human heart...
Aleksandr SolzhenitsynRead
We build buildings based on the false assumption that women go to mosques half as much as they actually do. In fact, the US is the only country in the world where women and men report that they attend the mosque in equal numbers, but our institutions aren't representing this reality.
Dalia MogahedRead