QuoteProject
No wonder, he thought, that the panhandle people were a godly lot, for they lived in sudden, violent atmospheres. Weather kept them humble.
Annie Proulx
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

The harshness of their environment fosters humility and spiritual depth in the people.

Annie Proulx reflects on how the challenging and sometimes violent weather conditions of the panhandle shape the character of its inhabitants. This creates an atmosphere where people are compelled to be humble and recognize their place within the larger scheme of nature, suggesting that adversity can lead to a deeper understanding of life and spirituality.

Themes

WeatherHumilitySpiritualityAdversityNature

In practice

Example use cases

In a speech about resilience, this quote can illustrate how challenges shape character.

More from Annie Proulx

It is my feeling that a story is not finished until it is read, and that the reader finishes it through his or her life experience, prejudices, worldview and thoughts.
Annie ProulxRead
You should write because you love the shape of stories and sentences and the creation of different words on a page. Writing comes from reading, and reading is the finest teacher of how to write.
Annie ProulxRead
I think it's important to leave spaces in a story for readers to fill in from their own experience.
Annie ProulxRead
If a piece of knotted string can unleash the wind, and if a drowned man can awaken, then I believe a broken man can heal.
Annie ProulxRead
But the only rhyme he could summon for 'out' was 'sauerkraut,' which lacked poetic glory. He let it go. The right line would come in time. That was the thing about poetry. It crept up through the draws and coulees of the brain.
Annie ProulxRead
It takes a year, nephew... a full turn of the calendar, to get over losing someone.
Annie ProulxRead

Similar quotes

He who acknowledges a kindness has it still, and he who has a grateful sense of it has requited it.
Marcus Tullius CiceroRead
It's impossible to speak what it is not noble to do.
SophoclesRead
Mindfulness is a quality that's always there. It's an illusion that there's a meditation and post-meditation period, which I always find amusing, because you're either mindful or you're not.
Richard GereRead
Self-awareness involves deep personal honesty. It comes from asking and answering hard questions.
Stephen CoveyRead
Work on your stony qualities and become resplendent like the ruby. Practice self-denial and accept difficulty. Always see infinite life in letting the self die. Your stoniness will decrease; your ruby nature will grow. The signs of self-existence will leave your body, and ecstasy will take you over.
RumiRead
Realisation is not acquisition of anything new nor is it a new faculty. It is only removal of all camouflage
Ramana MaharshiRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.