She has seen the mystery hid Under Egypt's pyramid: By those eyelids pale and close Now she knows what Rhamses knows.
Women know the way to rear up children (to be just). They know a simple, merry, tender knack of tying sashes, fitting baby-shoes, and stringing pretty words that make no sense. And kissing full sense into empty words.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights a mother's innate ability to nurture and teach children with care and affection.
In this quote, Elizabeth Barrett Browning emphasizes the unique qualities that women possess in raising children, underscoring their intuitive understanding of what it takes to instill values such as justice and kindness. She illustrates this through the imagery of tender actions like tying sashes and fitting shoes, suggesting that beyond the practical, it is the emotional connection and the love imparted through seemingly simple gestures that truly shape a child's understanding of the world.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of nurturing relationships, this quote beautifully illustrates the impact of a mother's love.
More from Elizabeth Barrett Browning
All quotes →First time he kissed me, he but only kissed The fingers of this hand wherewith I write; And, ever since, it grew more clean and white.
Earth's crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God: But only he who sees takes off his shoes.
Our Euripides the human, With his droppings of warm tears, and his touchings of things common Till they rose to meet the spheres.
Love me sweet With all thou art Feeling, thinking, seeing; Love me in the Lightest part, Love me in full Being.
At painful times, when composition is impossible and reading not enough, grammars and dictionaries are excellent for distraction.
Similar quotes
Recently I reviewed the history of many missionaries and found a powerful correlation between exceptional missionaries and mothers who chose to remain home, often at great financial and personal sacrifice...They reflect honor to mothers who sacrificed to remain home for their children's benefit.
There are fathers who do not love their children; there is no grandfather who does not adore his grandson.
My daughter, Grace, was not killed by a gun. She died suddenly at age 5 from a virulent form of strep. As I stood stunned in a church at her memorial, one of the hardest things I heard someone say was, 'I'm going to go home and hug my child a little tighter.' 'Well, good for you,' I thought. 'I'm going to go home and scream.'
Children make your life important.
You can choose your friends but you sho' can't choose your family, an' they're still kin to you no matter whether you acknowledge 'em or not, and it makes you look right silly when you don't.
I was raised by strong women, and that DNA is in my daughter and wife.