Great saying by great authors Quote by Rebecca West
“One perceives that again and again she has destroyed her life when it was forming into shapes of happiness because of her loyalty to the early misery, her conviction that that has the sanction of ultimate reality, and that beside it all other things are trivial.”
About This Quote
Source Novel: The Return of the Soldier, 1915
A woman’s devotion to past suffering blinds her to present joy, treating all else as insignificant.
In simple terms: Clinging to past pain limits current happiness.
Key Takeaway
Release past burdens to embrace present possibilities.
Themes
memory
loyalty
psychology
self‑sacrifice
illusion
Mood
melancholic
introspective
Type
literary
philosophical
When to use this quote
- therapy
- creative writing
- support groups
- personal reflection
Key Concepts
existentialism
psychodynamic theory
self‑identity
Questions to Reflect On
- What does “ultimate reality” mean to you?
- How can you honor past pain while moving forward?
A Different Perspective
Risk of dismissing legitimate grief.
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![“[On Jane Austen:] To believe her limited in range because she was harmonious in method is as sensible as to imagine that when the Atlantic Ocean is as smooth as a mill-pond it shrinks to the size of a mill-pond.” quote by Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/8d4/rebecca-west-1248_atlantic-ocean_on-jane-austen-to-believe-her-limited-in_215037.jpg)
