Appreciate love Quote by Enid Bagnold
““While the squire pulled out a flat weed she was beside herself with pity for humanity. This short, this fearful loveliness, in which men and women, heroic and baffled, struggling to wisdom, age as they struggle; wrestle upwards and drop into the ground. This marriage, this association, with matter, what a high-handed experiment, but what admirable victims! Man, with his eye on death, draws his foot from the womb. There is not time for anything, yet there is time for everything. No sooner appreciate love than skin withers, no sooner grow wise than we are unfit for wisdom. Learning to live and defeated by death. Discovery succeeds discovery, and nothing accumulates. We live haunted. We grasp and grasp; what we hold dissolves, our very hands dissolve.””
About This Quote
Source Book: The Old Wives' Tale by Enid Bagnold, 1939
The passage reflects on humanity’s fleeting struggle against time, love, and mortality, emphasizing the paradox of urgency and endless longing.
In simple terms: Human life is a brief, urgent quest against death and loss.
Key Takeaway
Embrace the present, accept impermanence.
Themes
mortality
existentialism
human condition
time
love
Mood
melancholic
reflective
poignant
Type
philosophical
literary
existential
When to use this quote
- grieving loss
- philosophical reflection
- artistic creation
- personal growth
- spiritual contemplation
Key Concepts
impermanence
paradox
existential dread
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you find meaning amid inevitable loss?
- What can you cherish when time feels both scarce and abundant?
A Different Perspective
Life’s urgency can overwhelm, leading to paralysis or despair.
