They are all alike you know. They hold their tongues for years and you think you're safe, but when the opportunity comes they remember everything.
Edith WhartonRead
His whole future seemed suddenly to be unrolled before him; and passing down its endless emptiness he saw the dwindling figure of a man to whom nothing was ever to happen.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects a sense of futility and the feeling of a life lacking significant events or achievements.
In this quote, Edith Wharton paints a vivid picture of an individual's life that stretches out before him, revealing a vast emptiness and insignificance. The image of the 'dwindling figure' symbolizes how the man's existence is marked by a lack of fulfillment or purpose, suggesting that without meaningful experiences or accomplishments, life can feel monotonous and desolate.
Themes
FutilityEmptinessLifePurposeExistence
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about finding purpose, one might quote this to illustrate the importance of meaningful experiences.
More from Edith Wharton
All quotes →They seemed to come suddenly upon happiness as if they had surprised a butterfly in the winter woods
Edith WhartonRead
Set wide the window. Let me drink the day.
Edith WhartonRead
And I wonder, among all the tangles of this mortal coil, which one contains tighter knots to undo, & consequently suggests more tugging, & pain, & diversified elements of misery, than the marriage tie.
Edith WhartonRead
As he paid the hansom and followed his wife's long train into the house he took refuge in the comforting platitude that the first six months were always the most difficult in marriage. 'After that I suppose we shall have pretty nearly finished rubbing off each other’s angles,' he reflected; but the worst of it was that May's pressure was already bearing on the very angles whose sharpness he most wanted to keep
Edith WhartonRead
There are two ways to spread happiness; either be the light who shines it or be the mirror who reflects it.
Edith WhartonRead
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