For humans-trapped in biology-there was no mercy: we lived a while, we fussed around for a bit and died, we rotted in the ground like garbage. Time destroyed us all soon enough. But to destroy, or lose, a deathless thing-to break bonds stronger than the temporal-was a metaphysical uncoupling all its own, a startling new flavor of despair.
by Donna Tartt
(0 Reviews)

The essence of the quote explores humanity's struggle against the inevitable cycle of life and death. It reflects on human existence as a transient experience, encapsulated by the notion that life is fleeting and leads ultimately to decay. We are bound by our biological nature, and this reality often leads to a sense of futility as we confront our mortality.

In contrast, the quote emphasizes the profound impact of losing something eternal, suggesting that the loss of a timeless bond or a deathless entity can evoke a unique, deep sorrow. It highlights that this kind of loss transcends the physical realm, evoking a despair that is even more impactful than the natural decline associated with human life. This duality of existence and loss illustrates the deeper philosophical questions about life and the connections we forge.

Stats

Categories
Author
Votes
0
Page views
0
Update
February 07, 2025

Rate the Quote

Add Comment & Review

User Reviews

Based on 0 reviews
5 Star
0
4 Star
0
3 Star
0
2 Star
0
1 Star
0
Add Comment & Review
We'll never share your email with anyone else.
More »

Other quotes in The Goldfinch

More »

Popular quotes

Small towns are like metronomes; with the slightest flick, the beat changes.
by Mitch Albom
Look, if you say that science will eventually prove there is no God, on that I must differ. No matter how small they take it back, to a tadpole, to an atom, there is always something they can't explain, something that created it all at the end of the search. And no matter how far they try to go the other way – to extend life, play around with the genes, clone this, clone that, live to one hundred and fifty – at some point, life is over. And then what happens? When the life comes to an end? I shrugged. You see? He leaned back. He smiled. When you come to the end, that's where God begins.
by Mitch Albom
You say you should have died instead of me. But during my time on earth, people died instead of me, too. It happens every day. When lightning strikes a minute after you are gone, or an airplane crashes that you might have been on. When your colleague falls ill and you do not. We think such things are random. But there is a balance to it all. One withers, another grows. Birth and death are part of a whole.
by Mitch Albom
My life amounts to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean. Yet what is any ocean, but a multitude of drops?
by David Mitchell
The nun said, I can forgive the language. I'm not sure I can forgive your making an obscene gesture at your mother. Ya gotta know her, Holland said. If you knew her, you'd give her the finger, too.
by John Sandford
But an ink brush, she thinks, is a skeleton key for a prisoner's mind.
by David Mitchell
There's lying," says Mum, fishing out the envelope she wrote the directions on from her handbag, "which is wrong, and there's creating the right impression, which is necessary.
by David Mitchell
Ain't you supposed to have peace when you die?'You have peace,' the old woman said, 'when you make it with yourself.
by Mitch Albom
Unlimited power in the hands of limited people always leads to cruelty.
by David Mitchell
A half-read book is a half-finished love affair.
by David Mitchell