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Human heart Quote by Alexander McCall Smith

“As a girl she had imagined the Milky Way was the curtain of heaven, a notion she had been sorry to abandon as she had grown up. But she would not abandon a belief in heaven itself, wherever that may be, because she felt that if she gave that up then there would be very little left. Heaven may not…” quote by Alexander McCall Smith
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““As a girl she had imagined the Milky Way was the curtain of heaven, a notion she had been sorry to abandon as she had grown up. But she would not abandon a belief in heaven itself, wherever that may be, because she felt that if she gave that up then there would be very little left. Heaven may not turn out to be the place of her imagining, she conceded--the place envisaged in the old Botswana stories, a place inhabited by gentle white cattle, with sweet breath--but it would surely be something not too unlike that, at least in the way it felt; a place where late people would be give all that they had lacked on this earth--a place of love for those who had not been loved, a place where those who had had nothing would find they had everything the human heart could desire.””

Alexander McCall Smith

About This Quote

Source Novel: The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, 1998

A belief in a comforting afterlife persists despite changing perceptions, offering hope and love.

In simple terms: Hope remains even as ideas change.

Key Takeaway

Hold onto comforting beliefs.

Themes

faith hope comfort

Mood

reflective hopeful

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

  • grief counseling
  • elderly care
  • personal reflection

Key Concepts

spirituality psychology

Questions to Reflect On

  • What comforts you in uncertainty?
  • How do you balance hope and reality?
A Different Perspective

Beliefs may clash with rationalism.

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