I asked her to look at me and after a few moments - (pause) - after a few moments she did, but the eyes just slits, because of the glare I bent over her to get them in the shadow and they opened. (Pause. Low) Let me in.
Samuel BeckettRead
Yes, in my life, since we must call it so, there were three things, the inability to speak, the inability to be silent, and solitude, that’s what I’ve had to make the best of.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on life's challenges and the acceptance of solitude as a part of existence.
In this quote, Samuel Beckett explores the complexities of communication and solitude, suggesting that life is marked by various struggles, including the inability to express oneself and the struggle to remain silent when necessary. Ultimately, he emphasizes the importance of making the most out of solitude, indicating that it can be a space for reflection and personal growth despite its inherent challenges.
In practice
During a workshop on personal growth, one might use this quote to emphasize the importance of embracing solitude.
I asked her to look at me and after a few moments - (pause) - after a few moments she did, but the eyes just slits, because of the glare I bent over her to get them in the shadow and they opened. (Pause. Low) Let me in.
Nothing happens. Nobody comes, nobody goes. It's awful.
I shall state silences more competently than ever a better man spangled the butterflies of vertigo.
And what I have, what I am, is enough, was always enough for me, and as far as my dear little sweet little future is concerned I have no qualms, I have a good time coming.
I love order. It's my dream. A world where all would be silent and still, and each thing in its last place, under the last dust.
We lose our hair, our teeth! Our bloom, our ideals.
...while the individual man is an insoluble puzzle, in the aggregate he becomes a mathematical certainty.
It is of no help to us that there is an absolute truth of the matter of things because unfortunately, none of us are in a position to say definitively what that is - although we all think that we are.
How can I keep my soul in me, so that it doesn't touch your soul? How can I raise it high enough, past you, to other things?
The human world is a long way from meeting the needs of the present, and it is borrowing massively from the future - not only by piling up money debt, but also by degrading the resources from which all real wealth ultimately comes.
Nature gives you the face you have at twenty; it is up to you to merit the face you have at fifty.
Once lead this people into war, and they'll forget there ever was such a thing as tolerance. To fight, you must be brutal and ruthless, and the spirit of ruthless brutality will enter into the very fiber of our national life, infecting Congress, the courts, the policeman on the beat, the man in the street.
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