Our life is twofold; Sleep hath its own world, a boundary…
““Our life is twofold; Sleep hath its own world, a boundary between the things misnamed Death and existence. Sleep hath its own world, and a wide realm of wild reality; and dreams in their development have breath, and tears, and tortures, and the touch of joy. They leave a weight upon our waking thoughts, they take a weight off our waking toils. They do divide our being; they become a portion of ourselves as of our time, and look like heralds of eternity. They pass like spirits of the past—they speak like sibyls of the future; they have power— the tyranny of pleasure and of pain. They make us what we were not—what they will, and shake us with the vision that’s gone by, the dread of vanished shadows—Are they so? Is not the past all shadow?—What are they? Creations of the mind?—The mind can make substances, and people planets of their own, with beings brighter than have been, and give a breath to forms which can outlive all flesh. I would recall a vision which I dreamed, perchance in sleep—for in itself a thought, a slumbering thought, is capable of years, and curdles a long life into one hour.””
About This Quote
This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.
Sleep and dreams bridge life and death, offering insight, joy, and pain, shaping our waking thoughts.
In simple terms: Dreams connect life, death, and meaning.
Key Takeaway
Reflect on dreams for self‑knowledge.
Themes
sleep
dreams
life
death
meaning
Mood
mysterious
thoughtful
Type
poetic
philosophical
When to use this quote
- nighttime reflection
- creative inspiration
- mental health
Key Concepts
psychology
metaphysics
Questions to Reflect On
- What messages do your dreams convey?
- How can dreams guide decisions?
A Different Perspective
Dreams can be confusing.