--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Everything has two endings- a horse, a…" description: "\"Everything has two endings- a horse, a piece of string, a phone call. Before a life, air. And after. As silence is not silence, but a limit of hearing...." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f3/jane-hirshfield-2649_air_everything-has-two-endings-a-horse-a-pie_120161.png" --- # Everything has two endings- a horse, a piece of string, a… ![“Everything has two endings- a horse, a piece of string, a phone call. Before a life, air. And after. As silence is not silence, but a limit of hearing.” quote by Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f3/jane-hirshfield-2649_air_everything-has-two-endings-a-horse-a-pie_120161.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f3/jane-hirshfield-2649_air_everything-has-two-endings-a-horse-a-pie_120161.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f3/jane-hirshfield-2649_air_everything-has-two-endings-a-horse-a-pie_120161.png) > “Everything has two endings- a horse, a piece of string, a phone call. Before a life, air. And after. As silence is not silence, but a limit of hearing.” [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life and its components have beginnings and endings; after death, silence persists, yet it is merely a boundary of perception rather than true emptiness. **In simple terms:** All things end; silence is a perceptual limit. Key Takeaway Endings define the limits of experience. Themes mortality silence perception philosophy Mood reflective melancholic Type philosophical reflection When to use this quote - grieving a loved one - contemplating the end of a project Key Concepts existentialism epistemology Practical Applications - reflect on what you can still hear/feel before silence Questions to Reflect On - What does 'silence is not silence' suggest about awareness? - How do we find meaning in endings? A Different Perspective The metaphor may overlook that silence can also be a space for inner listening. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Horse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horse/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Limits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/limits/) [Phone call](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/phone-call/) [Phone calls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/phone-calls/) [Phones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/phones/) [Silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silence/) ## Related quotes > [I don't know about happy endings, because I don't think, eventually, anything is happy. You feel a bout of happiness with good news. Five…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karan-johar/i-don-t-know-about-happy-endings-because-i-don-t-think-eventually/) [Karan Johar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karan-johar/) > [“Guns have their own silence. It is the silence of the dead to come.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-le-carre/guns-have-their-own-silence-it-is-the-silence-of-the-dead-to-come/) [John le Carré](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-le-carre/) > [“Silence upon silence, with a heaping pile of extra silence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-a-george/silence-upon-silence-with-a-heaping-pile-of-extra-silence/) [M.A. George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-a-george/) > [We can't stand silence, because silence induces thinking. And if we thought, we would have to face ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-de-mille/we-can-t-stand-silence-because-silence-induces-thinking-and-if-we/) [Agnes de Mille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-de-mille/) > [I did not enter into silence. Silence captured me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/i-did-not-enter-into-silence-silence-captured-me/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [Behind all creation is silence. Silence is the essential condition, the vital ingredient for all creation and all that is created. It is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-bk-satyanarayan/behind-all-creation-is-silence-silence-is-the-essential-condition-the/) [Dr BK Satyanarayan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-bk-satyanarayan/) > [“Profound silence; silence so deep that even their breathings were conspicuous in the hush.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/profound-silence-silence-so-deep-that-even-their-breathings-were/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“The silence depressed me. It wasn’t the silence of silence. It was my own silence. I knew perfectly well the cars were making a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/the-silence-depressed-me-it-wasn-t-the-silence-of-silence-it-was-my/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Meditation is silence. Silence is God In His Infinity's Smile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-chinmoy/meditation-is-silence-silence-is-god-in-his-infinity-s-smile/) [Sri Chinmoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-chinmoy/) > [Within each of us, there is a silence, a silence as vast as the universe. And when we experience that silence, we remember who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/within-each-of-us-there-is-a-silence-a-silence-as-vast-as-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Silence, silence.’ All the air of the fourteenth floor was sibilant with the categorical imperative. Fifty”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/silence-silence-all-the-air-of-the-fourteenth-floor-was-sibilant-with/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“You don't need to fill the silence— sometimes, silence is the deepest conversation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-delaney/you-don-t-need-to-fill-the-silence-sometimes-silence-is-the-deepest/) Sean DeLaney > [To go beyond the mind, you must be silent and quiet. Peace and silence, silence and peace - this is the way beyond. Stop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/to-go-beyond-the-mind-you-must-be-silent-and-quiet-peace-and-silence/) [Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/) > [Freediving is about silence...the silence that comes from within..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-mayol/freediving-is-about-silence-the-silence-that-comes-from-within/) Jacques Mayol > [“It was only as he put his hand on the door that he became aware of complete silence beyond it, a silence which he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/it-was-only-as-he-put-his-hand-on-the-door-that-he-became-aware-of/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) ## More by Jane Hirshfield > [I don't have a cell phone (though for years I've kept saying, "soon").](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/i-don-t-have-a-cell-phone-though-for-years-i-ve-kept-saying-soon/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [I once was asked to contribute to a mushroom poem anthology. I didn't have anything, and so instead ended up writing the introduction. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/i-once-was-asked-to-contribute-to-a-mushroom-poem-anthology-i-didn-t/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [A certain amount of housekeeping also goes on in my poems. I wash doorknobs, do dishes, mop floors, patch carpets, cook.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/a-certain-amount-of-housekeeping-also-goes-on-in-my-poems-i-wash/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [Self carries grief as a pack mule carries the side bags, being careful between the trees to leave extra room.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/self-carries-grief-as-a-pack-mule-carries-the-side-bags-being-careful/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [My job as a human being as well as a writer is to feel as thoroughly as possible the experience that I am part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/my-job-as-a-human-being-as-well-as-a-writer-is-to-feel-as-thoroughly/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [I want to preserve a certain unknowing about my own poems - perhaps because unknowing is in itself a useful poetic thirst. To move…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/i-want-to-preserve-a-certain-unknowing-about-my-own-poems-perhaps/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [Habit, laziness, and fear conspire to keep us comfortably within the familiar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/habit-laziness-and-fear-conspire-to-keep-us-comfortably-within-the/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [In order to gain anything, you must first lose everything](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/in-order-to-gain-anything-you-must-first-lose-everything/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [The same words come from each mouth differently.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/the-same-words-come-from-each-mouth-differently/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [Metaphors think with the imagination and the senses. The hot chili peppers in them explode in the mouth and the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/metaphors-think-with-the-imagination-and-the-senses-the-hot-chili/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [Your fate is to be yourself, both punishment and crime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/your-fate-is-to-be-yourself-both-punishment-and-crime/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [Near even a candle, the visible heat. So it is with a person in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/near-even-a-candle-the-visible-heat-so-it-is-with-a-person-in-love/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [At some point I realized that you don't get a full human life if you try to cut off one end of it, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/at-some-point-i-realized-that-you-don-t-get-a-full-human-life-if-you/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [Immensity is always there, but we so often become numb to it, or deceive ourselves into thinking our own lives and selves are what's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/immensity-is-always-there-but-we-so-often-become-numb-to-it-or/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [At some unnoticed moment, I began to understand that a life is written in indelible ink.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/at-some-unnoticed-moment-i-began-to-understand-that-a-life-is-written/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) [Explore all 156 Jane Hirshfield quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) ## More Air quotes > [I will be a tireless advocate for our District's defense priorities including Sheppard Air Force Base, Pantex, Bell Helicopter, universities conducting important research, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronny-jackson/i-will-be-a-tireless-advocate-for-our-district-s-defense-priorities/) [Ronny Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronny-jackson/) > [I have lifted my plane . . . for perhaps a thousand flights and I have never felt her wheels glide from the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/i-have-lifted-my-plane-for-perhaps-a-thousand-flights-and-i-have/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [If U.S. air, naval, missile, and ground forces were not in and around Korea, and if we were not treaty-bound to fight alongside South…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/if-u-s-air-naval-missile-and-ground-forces-were-not-in-and-around/) [Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) > [The cooler days have brought a wistful mood upon him. The smell of coalsmoke in the air at night. Old times, dead years. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-cooler-days-have-brought-a-wistful-mood-upon-him-the-smell-of/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [It's easy to say, let's go in and get the bad guys. But you have a divided country of Sunnis and Shias. The United…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tulsi-gabbard/it-s-easy-to-say-let-s-go-in-and-get-the-bad-guys-but-you-have-a/) [Tulsi Gabbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tulsi-gabbard/) > [I'm a candle flame that sways in currents of air you can't see. You need to be the one who steadies me to burn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/i-m-a-candle-flame-that-sways-in-currents-of-air-you-can-t-see-you/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [It is sometimes said that scientists are unromantic, that their passion to figure out robs the world of beauty and mystery. But is it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/it-is-sometimes-said-that-scientists-are-unromantic-that-their/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [ Just between you and me, shouldn’t the World Bank be encouraging MORE migration of the dirty industries to the LDCs \[Less Developed Countries\]?... I… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-summers/just-between-you-and-me-shouldn-t-the-world-bank-be-encouraging-more/) [Lawrence Summers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-summers/) > [After a few mouthfuls of moon-flavored air, even the stubbornly drowsy can find themselves wide-eyed.. All the normal noises of life were gone, leaving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-d-wilson/after-a-few-mouthfuls-of-moon-flavored-air-even-the-stubbornly-drowsy/) [N.D. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-d-wilson/) > [There was a little nook on Air Force Two that contained the vice presidential seal, and I would sort of wedge myself in there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-biden/there-was-a-little-nook-on-air-force-two-that-contained-the-vice/) [Jill Biden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-biden/) > [Words are substance strange. Speak one and the air ripples into another's ears. Write one and the eye laps it up. But the sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-beachy-quick/words-are-substance-strange-speak-one-and-the-air-ripples-into/) [Dan Beachy-Quick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-beachy-quick/) > [ \[A\]s you partake of the world's bill of fare, that's darned good advice to follow. Do a lot of spitting out the hot air.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/a-s-you-partake-of-the-world-s-bill-of-fare-that-s-darned-good-advice/) [Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/) > [...As the disparity between the rich and the poor grows, the fight to corner resources is intensifying. To push through their "sweetheart deals," to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/as-the-disparity-between-the-rich-and-the-poor-grows-the-fight-to/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [Washington bureaucrats have classified the very air we exhale as a pollutant and have gone unchallenged in this incredible assertion. The logical consequence is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-paul/washington-bureaucrats-have-classified-the-very-air-we-exhale-as-a/) [Ron Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-paul/) > [“It is unnatural to fear something natural.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/it-is-unnatural-to-fear-something-natural/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) Browse all 6,278 Air quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Everything has two endings- a horse, a piece of string, a phone call. Before a life, air. And after. As silence is not silence, but a limit of hearing.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jane Hirshfield" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/everything-has-two-endings-a-horse-a-piece-of-string-a-phone-call/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Air" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/everything-has-two-endings-a-horse-a-piece-of-string-a-phone-call/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f3/jane-hirshfield-2649_air_everything-has-two-endings-a-horse-a-pie_120161.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f3/jane-hirshfield-2649_air_everything-has-two-endings-a-horse-a-pie_120161.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f3/jane-hirshfield-2649_air_everything-has-two-endings-a-horse-a-pie_120161.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Everything has two endings- a horse, a piece of string, a phone call. Before a life, air. And after. As…” — Jane Hirshfield", "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": "Jane Hirshfield", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Everything has two endings- a horse,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/everything-has-two-endings-a-horse-a-piece-of-string-a-phone-call/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/everything-has-two-endings-a-horse-a-piece-of-string-a-phone-call/#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 } } ] } ```