--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Islands are reminders of arrivals and…" description: "\"Islands are reminders of arrivals and departures.\" — Gretel Ehrlich" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14e/gretel-ehrlich-9636_arrivals_islands-are-reminders-of-arrivals-and-de_843132.jpg" --- # Islands are reminders of arrivals and departures. ![“Islands are reminders of arrivals and departures.” quote by Gretel Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14e/gretel-ehrlich-9636_arrivals_islands-are-reminders-of-arrivals-and-de_843132.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14e/gretel-ehrlich-9636_arrivals_islands-are-reminders-of-arrivals-and-de_843132.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14e/gretel-ehrlich-9636_arrivals_islands-are-reminders-of-arrivals-and-de_843132.jpg) > “Islands are reminders of arrivals and departures.” [Gretel Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Islands symbolize moments of arrival and departure, marking transitions in life. **In simple terms:** Islands represent arrivals and departures. Key Takeaway Recognize transitions as natural parts of life. Themes transition arrival departure place metaphor Mood contemplative nostalgic Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - travel - career changes - relationships - personal growth Key Concepts impermanence journey identity Questions to Reflect On - What recent departure have you experienced? - How do you honor arrivals? A Different Perspective Focusing on endings may cause nostalgia. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Departure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/departure/) [Departures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/departures/) [Islands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/islands/) ## Related quotes > [As an actor, you realize that your whole life is about arrivals and departures. You're always meeting people, you get really close, and then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-levy/as-an-actor-you-realize-that-your-whole-life-is-about-arrivals-and/) [Jane Levy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-levy/) > [“Life is all arrivals and departures.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-joy-fowler/life-is-all-arrivals-and-departures/) [Karen Joy Fowler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-joy-fowler/) > [“An airport cannot choose to only accept arrivals and not departures; there are valid times for travel in both directions. I cannot force people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shasta-nelson/an-airport-cannot-choose-to-only-accept-arrivals-and-not-departures/) [Shasta Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shasta-nelson/) > [Departures and arrivals tend to emphasize people's personalities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lilli-palmer/departures-and-arrivals-tend-to-emphasize-people-s-personalities/) [Lilli Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lilli-palmer/) > [Some departures bring more light to your life!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/some-departures-bring-more-light-to-your-life/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“In your life you will meet shooting stars. You will see them, make your wish and see them disappear.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nahiar-ozar/in-your-life-you-will-meet-shooting-stars-you-will-see-them-make-your/) Nahiar Ozar > [“Looking back I can see that there have been no breaks from one departure to the next; I start planning again before we've even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-hodgson/looking-back-i-can-see-that-there-have-been-no-breaks-from-one/) [Barbara Hodgson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-hodgson/) > [“DEPARTURE The horizon slopes away The days are longer Trip A heart hops in a cage A bird sings It is going to die…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-reverdy/departure-the-horizon-slopes-away-the-days-are-longer-trip-a-heart/) [Pierre Reverdy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-reverdy/) > [“I think, That all departures, Teach one To celebrate the togetherness Of the moments spent In contentment, Rather than grieving For the loss.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neelam-saxena-chandra/i-think-that-all-departures-teach-one-to-celebrate-the-togetherness/) [Neelam Saxena Chandra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neelam-saxena-chandra/) > [“My emotions were arrivals and departures, nonstop insignificances speeding through a station.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-aaron-goodman/my-emotions-were-arrivals-and-departures-nonstop-insignificances/) [Matthew Aaron Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-aaron-goodman/) > [A pretty girl is better than a plain one. A leg is better than an arm. A bedroom is better than a living room.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/preston-sturges/a-pretty-girl-is-better-than-a-plain-one-a-leg-is-better-than-an-arm/) [Preston Sturges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/preston-sturges/) > [To be alive means to live in a world that proceeded one’s own arrival and will survive one’s own departure. On this level of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah/to-be-alive-means-to-live-in-a-world-that-proceeded-one-s-own-arrival/) [Hannah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah/) > [Perfume heralds a woman’s arrival and prolongs her departure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coco-chanel/perfume-heralds-a-woman-s-arrival-and-prolongs-her-departure/) [Coco Chanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coco-chanel/) > [Since we had nothing to do with our arrival and usually are not consulted about our departure, what makes so many of us think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-forbes/since-we-had-nothing-to-do-with-our-arrival-and-usually-are-not/) [Malcolm Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-forbes/) > [Heaven has not learned of my arrival, and my departure will not in the least diminish it beauty and grandeur. I will sleep underground,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omar-khayy-m/heaven-has-not-learned-of-my-arrival-and-my-departure-will-not-in-the/) [Omar Khayyam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omar-khayy-m/) ## More by Gretel Ehrlich > [“To yield is to be preserved whole. To be bent is to become straight. To be hollow is to be filled. To be tattered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/to-yield-is-to-be-preserved-whole-to-be-bent-is-to-become-straight-to/) [Gretel Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/) > [Turbulence, like many forms of trouble, cannot always be seen. We bounce so hard my arms sail helplessly above my head. In evolution, wing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/turbulence-like-many-forms-of-trouble-cannot-always-be-seen-we-bounce/) [Gretel Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/) > [From the clayey soil of northern Wyoming is mined bentonite, which is used as filler in candy, gum, and lipstick. We Americans are great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/from-the-clayey-soil-of-northern-wyoming-is-mined-bentonite-which-is/) [Gretel Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/) > [Finally, the lessons of impermanence taught me this: loss constitutes an odd kind of fullness; despair empties out into an unquenchable appetite for life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/finally-the-lessons-of-impermanence-taught-me-this-loss-constitutes/) [Gretel Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/) > [If anything is endemic to Wyoming it is wind. This big room of space is swept out daily, leaving a bone yard of fossils,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/if-anything-is-endemic-to-wyoming-it-is-wind-this-big-room-of-space/) [Gretel Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/) > [Everything in nature invites us constantly to be what we are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/everything-in-nature-invites-us-constantly-to-be-what-we-are/) [Gretel Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/) > [Between highway sounds I heard waves and thought how the curve of the coastline here had sheltered and nurtured live-born sharks, humans, and migrating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/between-highway-sounds-i-heard-waves-and-thought-how-the-curve-of-the/) [Gretel Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/) > [Walking is also an ambulation of mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/walking-is-also-an-ambulation-of-mind/) [Gretel Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/) > [As fog moved to the mainland I heard a flock of birds fly over. They sounded like a dress rustling, a dress being unfastened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/as-fog-moved-to-the-mainland-i-heard-a-flock-of-birds-fly-over-they/) [Gretel Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/) > [History is not truth versus falsehoods, but a mixture of both, a mélange of tendencies, reactions, dreams, errors, and power plays. What's important is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/history-is-not-truth-versus-falsehoods-but-a-mixture-of-both-a-m/) [Gretel Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/) > [“What shocks me so is the detachment with which we dispense destruction -- not just bombs, but blows to the head of the earth,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/what-shocks-me-so-is-the-detachment-with-which-we-dispense/) [Gretel Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/) > [“Like water, I have no skin...only surface tension. (Gretel Ehrlich)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/like-water-i-have-no-skin-only-surface-tension-gretel-ehrlich/) [Gretel Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/) > [What Flaubert refers to as the “mélancholies du voyage” is like the sadness I feel as one season departs and another arrives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/what-flaubert-refers-to-as-the-m-lancholies-du-voyage-is-like-the/) [Gretel Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/) > [“Space is an arena where the rowdy particles that are the building blocks of life perform their antics. All spring, things fall; the general…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/space-is-an-arena-where-the-rowdy-particles-that-are-the-building/) [Gretel Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/) > [There is nothing in nature that can't be taken as a sign of both mortality and invigoration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/there-is-nothing-in-nature-that-can-t-be-taken-as-a-sign-of-both/) [Gretel Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/) [Explore all 71 Gretel Ehrlich quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/) ## More Arrivals quotes > [You are quite, quite wrong if you think that ... I find your happiness painful. What matters is that happiness - the golden day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/you-are-quite-quite-wrong-if-you-think-that-i-find-your-happiness/) [Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/) > [Arrival = Prison, and the artist must never be a prisoner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/arrival-prison-and-the-artist-must-never-be-a-prisoner/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) > [I see ... a pile of skulls and bones. For the first time since my arrival, what I see before me is too painful,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dith-pran/i-see-a-pile-of-skulls-and-bones-for-the-first-time-since-my-arrival/) [Dith Pran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dith-pran/) > [The future turns out to be something that you make instead of find. It isn't waiting for your arrival, either with an arrest warrant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-h-lapham/the-future-turns-out-to-be-something-that-you-make-instead-of-find-it/) [Lewis H. Lapham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-h-lapham/) > [The beauty of inspiration for me is that you can't predict when it's coming. I like that it just pops up out of nowhere.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scout-niblett/the-beauty-of-inspiration-for-me-is-that-you-can-t-predict-when-it-s/) [Scout Niblett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scout-niblett/) > [“When you are waiting for a train, don't keep perpetually looking to see if it is coming. The time of its arrival is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-you-are-waiting-for-a-train-don-t-keep-perpetually-looking-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Upon my arrival in the United States the religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention; and the longer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/upon-my-arrival-in-the-united-states-the-religious-aspect-of-the/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [Unconscious of your story, you are in its grasp; but with consciousness, an alchemical process begins: The solidity of the complex dissolves and you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/connie-zweig/unconscious-of-your-story-you-are-in-its-grasp-but-with-consciousness/) [Connie Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/connie-zweig/) > [Life is a continual process of arrival into who we are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-popova/life-is-a-continual-process-of-arrival-into-who-we-are/) [Maria Popova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-popova/) > [Prison is a severe and terrible punishment; but for me, thanks to Arthur Balfour, this was not so. I was much cheered on my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/prison-is-a-severe-and-terrible-punishment-but-for-me-thanks-to/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [Death in Somalia seldom bothers to announce its arrival. In fact, death calls with the arrogance of a guest confident on receiving a warm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nuruddin-farah/death-in-somalia-seldom-bothers-to-announce-its-arrival-in-fact-death/) [Nuruddin Farah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nuruddin-farah/) > [The arrival of Ade Akinbiyi gave everyone a lift. He's a natural born goalscorer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trevor-francis/the-arrival-of-ade-akinbiyi-gave-everyone-a-lift-he-s-a-natural-born/) Trevor Francis > [many writers believe in arrival without leaving home. They believe in talent but not skill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judy-delton/many-writers-believe-in-arrival-without-leaving-home-they-believe-in/) [Judy Delton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judy-delton/) > [We become, after the arrival of the printing press in general, more attentive more attuned to contemplative ways of thinking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-g-carr/we-become-after-the-arrival-of-the-printing-press-in-general-more/) [Nicholas G. Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-g-carr/) > [Our tomorrows must be met at the time of their arrival... with the HOPE they are as BEAUTIFUL as today!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-peterson/our-tomorrows-must-be-met-at-the-time-of-their-arrival-with-the-hope/) Joe Peterson Browse all 173 Arrivals quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Islands are reminders of arrivals and departures.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gretel Ehrlich" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/islands-are-reminders-of-arrivals-and-departures/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Arrivals" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/islands-are-reminders-of-arrivals-and-departures/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14e/gretel-ehrlich-9636_arrivals_islands-are-reminders-of-arrivals-and-de_843132.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14e/gretel-ehrlich-9636_arrivals_islands-are-reminders-of-arrivals-and-de_843132.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14e/gretel-ehrlich-9636_arrivals_islands-are-reminders-of-arrivals-and-de_843132.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Islands are reminders of arrivals and departures.” — Gretel Ehrlich", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Gretel Ehrlich", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Islands are reminders of arrivals and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/islands-are-reminders-of-arrivals-and-departures/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/islands-are-reminders-of-arrivals-and-departures/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```