Fire Quote by Patricia A. McKillip
““When he held a candle across the threshold, the black swallowed the fire completely. When he tried to step across it, he felt nothing beneath his foot. Sometimes he heard rain, a bird-cry, wind soughing through tall trees; mostly he was aware only of an intimation of vastness, silence, as though he stood at the edge of a world. He saw nothing. So he let the charcoal imagine what might lie on the other side of the door.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, Patricia A. McKillip, 1975
A character confronts an unknowable void, using imagination to fill what cannot be seen.
In simple terms: Facing emptiness, we imagine possibilities.
Key Takeaway
Embrace imagination when reality is opaque.
Themes
mystery
imagination
the unknown
perception
silence
Mood
contemplative
enigmatic
Type
literary
philosophical
When to use this quote
- exploring grief
- creative writing
- spiritual contemplation
- decision making under uncertainty
Key Concepts
existential void
creative visualization
psychic threshold
Questions to Reflect On
- What does the void represent for you?
- How can imagination guide actions in uncertainty?
A Different Perspective
Imagination may mask truth rather than reveal it.
![“[Imagination] must be visited constantly, or else it begins to become restless and emit strange bellows at embarrassing moments; ignoring it only makes it grow larger and noisier.” quote by Patricia A. McKillip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/12e/patricia-a-mckillip-5203_constantly_imagination-must-be-visited-constantly-o_192968.jpg)
![“Next came the Patent laws. These began in England in 1624; and, in this country, with the adoption of our constitution. Before then [these?], any man might instantly use what another had invented; so that the inventor had no special advantage from his own invention. The patent system changed this…” quote by Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/449/abraham-lincoln-88_adoption_next-came-the-patent-laws-these-began-in_1828.jpg)
