It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
What's wrong with men?" Tenar inquired cautiously. As cautiously, lowering her voice, Moss replied, "I don't know, my dearie. I've thought on it. Often I've thought on it. The best I can say it is like this. A man's in his skin, see, like a nut in its shell." She held up her long, bent, wet fingers as if holding a walnut. "It's hard and strong, that shell, and it's all full of him. Full of grand man-meat, man-self. And that's all. That's all there is. It's all him and nothing else, inside.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the complexity of men's identities, suggesting that one can be deeply enclosed within their own persona.
Ursula K. Le Guin's quote delves into the nature of masculinity, comparing a man to a nut encased in a tough shell. This metaphor illustrates the idea that while men may appear strong and impenetrable on the outside, their true selves—their emotions, experiences, and vulnerabilities—are contained within, suggesting that there is more to a person than what meets the eye.
Themes
IdentityMasculinitySelfVulnerabilityPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
During a seminar on masculinity, one might quote this to encourage discussion about emotional vulnerability.
More from Ursula K. Le Guin
All quotes →In reading a novel, any novel, we have to know perfectly well that the whole thing is nonsense, and then, while reading, believe every word of it. Finally, when we're done with it, we may find - if it's a good novel - that we're a bit different from what we were before we read it, that we have changed a little... But it's very hard to say just what we learned, how we were changed.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
Reason is a faculty far larger than mere objective force. When either the political or the scientific discourse announces itself as the voice of reason, it is playing God, and should be spanked and stood in the corner.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty; not knowing what comes next.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
We read books to find out who we are. What other people, real or imaginary, do and think and feel... is an essential guide to our understanding of what we ourselves are and may become.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
When he found that the administrators were upset, he laughed. “Do they expect students not to be anarchists?” he said. “What else can the young be? When you are on the bottom, you must organize from the bottom up
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
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