--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What is it that sometimes speaks in the…" description: "\"What is it that sometimes speaks in the soul so calmly, so clearly, that its earthly time is short? Is it the secret instinct of decaying nature, or th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/086/harriet-beecher-stowe-1149_autumn_what-is-it-that-sometimes-speaks-in-the_2715487.jpg" --- # What is it that sometimes speaks in the soul so calmly, so… ![“What is it that sometimes speaks in the soul so calmly, so clearly, that its earthly time is short? Is it the secret instinct of decaying nature, or the soul's impulsive throb, as immortality draws on? Be what it may, it rested in the heart of Eva, a calm, sweet, prophetic certainty that Heaven…” quote by Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/086/harriet-beecher-stowe-1149_autumn_what-is-it-that-sometimes-speaks-in-the_2715487.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/086/harriet-beecher-stowe-1149_autumn_what-is-it-that-sometimes-speaks-in-the_2715487.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/086/harriet-beecher-stowe-1149_autumn_what-is-it-that-sometimes-speaks-in-the_2715487.jpg) > “What is it that sometimes speaks in the soul so calmly, so clearly, that its earthly time is short? Is it the secret instinct of decaying nature, or the soul's impulsive throb, as immortality draws on? Be what it may, it rested in the heart of Eva, a calm, sweet, prophetic certainty that Heaven was near; calm as the light of sunset, sweet as the bright stillness of autumn, there her little heart reposed, only troubled by sorrow for those who loved her so dearly.” [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A fleeting, deep inner certainty arises from love and impending loss, suggesting a prophetic calm before death. **In simple terms:** A brief, clear feeling of peace in the heart before death. Key Takeaway Cherish moments of calm insight. Themes love mortality prophecy inner peace Mood melancholic reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - grief counseling - end‑of‑life care - creative writing - personal reflection Key Concepts existential spiritual psychology Questions to Reflect On - How do you recognize genuine inner peace versus romanticized nostalgia? - What practices help sustain calm during loss? A Different Perspective Such certainty may be romanticized, overlooking practical coping. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Autumn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/autumn/) [Calm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/calm/) [Certainty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certainty/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Heaven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heaven/) [Immortality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/immortality/) [Instinct](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instinct/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Prophetic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prophetic/) [Secret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret/) [Serenity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/serenity/) [Sorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorrow/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Spirituality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirituality/) [Stillness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stillness/) [Sunset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sunset/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Time Is Short](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time-is-short/) ## Related quotes > [Prepare thy soul calmly to obey; such offering will be more acceptable to God than every other sacrifice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pietro-metastasio/prepare-thy-soul-calmly-to-obey-such-offering-will-be-more-acceptable/) [Pietro Metastasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pietro-metastasio/) > [The whole universe was stilled as if listening for a voice. For the space of one heartbeat there was peace on earth. For one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-goudge/the-whole-universe-was-stilled-as-if-listening-for-a-voice-for-the/) [Elizabeth Goudge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-goudge/) > [We don't seek to escape this life by dreaming of heaven. But we do find we can endure this life because of the certainty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-macarthur/we-don-t-seek-to-escape-this-life-by-dreaming-of-heaven-but-we-do/) [John Macarthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-macarthur/) > [Time is short, my strength is limited, the office is a horror, the apartment is noisy, and if a pleasant, straightforward life is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/time-is-short-my-strength-is-limited-the-office-is-a-horror-the/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [Indies are always an extra challenge. The time is shorter because you have less money to spend and fewer days to shoot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salli-richardson/indies-are-always-an-extra-challenge-the-time-is-shorter-because-you/) [Salli Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salli-richardson/) > [Countless people, suffering from many different diseases, stand to benefit from the answers stem cell research can provide. We owe it to ourselves and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-reagan/countless-people-suffering-from-many-different-diseases-stand-to/) [Nancy Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-reagan/) > [Life is short. Time is short. As we get older, time does quicken. It's long, and it's long pertaining to that thought, that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-seymour-hoffman/life-is-short-time-is-short-as-we-get-older-time-does-quicken-it-s/) [Philip Seymour Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-seymour-hoffman/) > [Since you are my readers, and I have not been much of a traveler, I will not talk about people a thousand miles off,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/since-you-are-my-readers-and-i-have-not-been-much-of-a-traveler-i/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Time is shortening. But every day that I challenge this cancer and survive is a victory for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-bergman/time-is-shortening-but-every-day-that-i-challenge-this-cancer-and/) [Ingrid Bergman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-bergman/) > [Work is hard. Distractions are plentiful. And time is short.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-hochschild/work-is-hard-distractions-are-plentiful-and-time-is-short/) [Adam Hochschild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-hochschild/) > [Nothing living should ever be treated with contempt. Whatever it is that lives, a man, a tree, or a bird, should be touched gently,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-goudge/nothing-living-should-ever-be-treated-with-contempt-whatever-it-is/) [Elizabeth Goudge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-goudge/) > [“In essence, what is forbidden to do is likewise forbidden as an object of reflection. Included in this is thinking about the weaknesses or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hamza-yusuf/in-essence-what-is-forbidden-to-do-is-likewise-forbidden-as-an-object/) [Hamza Yusuf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hamza-yusuf/) > [Life and death matters, yes. And the question of how to behave in this world, how to go in the face of everything. Time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-carver/life-and-death-matters-yes-and-the-question-of-how-to-behave-in-this/) [Raymond Carver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-carver/) > [Our lifetime is short and limited, but the ideas, actions and thoughts we produce can easily remain unlimited.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rashida-rowe/our-lifetime-is-short-and-limited-but-the-ideas-actions-and-thoughts/) [Rashida Rowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rashida-rowe/) > [I've always had a clear sense that time is short and we need to live as fully as we can in every moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-leavitt/i-ve-always-had-a-clear-sense-that-time-is-short-and-we-need-to-live/) [Caroline Leavitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-leavitt/) ## More by Harriet Beecher Stowe > [It lies around us like a cloud- A world we do not see; Yet the sweet closing of an eye May bring us there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/it-lies-around-us-like-a-cloud-a-world-we-do-not-see-yet-the-sweet/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [I wrote what I did because as a woman, as a mother, I was oppressed and broken-hearted with the sorrows and injustice I saw,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/i-wrote-what-i-did-because-as-a-woman-as-a-mother-i-was-oppressed-and/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [People who hate trouble generally get a good deal of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/people-who-hate-trouble-generally-get-a-good-deal-of-it/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [Common sense is seeing things as they are; and doing things as they ought to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/common-sense-is-seeing-things-as-they-are-and-doing-things-as-they/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [Love needs new leaves every summer of life, as much as your elm-tree, and new branches to grow broader and wider, and new flowers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/love-needs-new-leaves-every-summer-of-life-as-much-as-your-elm-tree/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [God has always been to me not so much like a father as like a dear and tender mother.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/god-has-always-been-to-me-not-so-much-like-a-father-as-like-a-dear/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [If I am to write, I must have a room to myself, which shall be my room.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/if-i-am-to-write-i-must-have-a-room-to-myself-which-shall-be-my-room/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [The longest way must have its close - the gloomiest night will wear on to a morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/the-longest-way-must-have-its-close-the-gloomiest-night-will-wear-on/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [Home is a place not only of strong affections, but of entire unreserved; it is life's undress rehearsal, its backroom, its dressing room, from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/home-is-a-place-not-only-of-strong-affections-but-of-entire/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [I am speaking now of the highest duty we owe our friends, the noblest, the most sacred - that of keeping their own nobleness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/i-am-speaking-now-of-the-highest-duty-we-owe-our-friends-the-noblest/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [No ornament of a house can compare with books; they are constant company in a room, even when you are not reading them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/no-ornament-of-a-house-can-compare-with-books-they-are-constant/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [The greater the interest involved in a truth the more careful, self-distrustful, and patient should be the inquiry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/the-greater-the-interest-involved-in-a-truth-the-more-careful-self/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [We can make ourselves say the kind things that rise in our hearts and tremble on our lips - do the gentle and helpful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/we-can-make-ourselves-say-the-kind-things-that-rise-in-our-hearts-and/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [It's a matter of taking the side of the weak against the strong, something the best people have always done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/it-s-a-matter-of-taking-the-side-of-the-weak-against-the-strong/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [What's your hurry?" Because now is the only time there ever is to do a thing in," said Miss Ophelia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/what-s-your-hurry-because-now-is-the-only-time-there-ever-is-to-do-a/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) [Explore all 280 Harriet Beecher Stowe quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) ## More Autumn quotes > [This, at last, was where things were as they ought to be. Everything was in its place -- the tree, the earth underneath, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-liedloff/this-at-last-was-where-things-were-as-they-ought-to-be-everything-was/) [Jean Liedloff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-liedloff/) > [The American spring is by no means so agreeable as the American autumn; both move with faltering step, and slow; but this lingering pace,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-trollope/the-american-spring-is-by-no-means-so-agreeable-as-the-american/) [Frances Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-trollope/) > [“Flowers that had bloomed brilliant from spring through autumn blackened under the killing frost.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-roberts/flowers-that-had-bloomed-brilliant-from-spring-through-autumn/) [Nora Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-roberts/) > [“FALL I've never liked orange not even a hint of yellow though that doesn't mean I'm derange, you know. but it's still a riddle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kynna-claire/fall-i-ve-never-liked-orange-not-even-a-hint-of-yellow-though-that/) Kynna Claire > [The trees change their voices in autumn as well as their shapes. No longer do they whisper to one another in muffled tones as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patience-strong/the-trees-change-their-voices-in-autumn-as-well-as-their-shapes-no/) [Patience Strong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patience-strong/) > [The measured blood beats out the year's delay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bogan/the-measured-blood-beats-out-the-year-s-delay/) [Louise Bogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bogan/) > [You know how this is: if I look at the crystal moon, at the red branch of the slow autumn at my window, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/you-know-how-this-is-if-i-look-at-the-crystal-moon-at-the-red-branch/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“The crickets felt it was their duty to warn everybody that summertime cannot last for ever. Even on the most beautiful days in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-crickets-felt-it-was-their-duty-to-warn-everybody-that-summertime/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [He found himself wondering at times, especially in the autumn, about the wild lands, and strange visions of mountains that he had never seen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/he-found-himself-wondering-at-times-especially-in-the-autumn-about/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Easter blessings All life’s sacrifices like autumn leaves awaken our senses and power to love and be whole Our Mother Earth, Our Father Sky…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramon-ravenswood/easter-blessings-all-life-s-sacrifices-like-autumn-leaves-awaken-our/) [Ramon Ravenswood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramon-ravenswood/) > [The lush green of the fields became a rich gold that swayed sturdily under the wind and fell at last before the hands of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-ostenso/the-lush-green-of-the-fields-became-a-rich-gold-that-swayed-sturdily/) [Martha Ostenso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-ostenso/) > [The ascent of any route begins, in dreams at least, the autumn before. Our minds ring, involuntarily, with the alluring names of mountains, aiguilles,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-rebuffat/the-ascent-of-any-route-begins-in-dreams-at-least-the-autumn-before/) [Gaston Rebuffat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-rebuffat/) > [“Autumn eats its leaf out of my hand: we are friends. From the nuts we shell time and we teach it to walk: then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-celan/autumn-eats-its-leaf-out-of-my-hand-we-are-friends-from-the-nuts-we/) [Paul Celan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-celan/) > [While cares will drop off like autumn leaves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/while-cares-will-drop-off-like-autumn-leaves/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) > [We must learn to do economic work from all who know how, no matter who they are. We must esteem them as teachers, learning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mao-zedong/we-must-learn-to-do-economic-work-from-all-who-know-how-no-matter-who/) [Mao Zedong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mao-zedong/) [Browse all 1,210 Autumn quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/autumn/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What is it that sometimes speaks in the soul so calmly, so clearly, that its earthly time is short? Is it the secret instinct of decaying nature, or the soul's impulsive throb, as immortality draws on? 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