Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Louisa May Alcott

Quote by Louisa May Alcott

Work

The Poems of Louisa May Alcott

Browse quotes and source details for this work. more

Author

Louisa May Alcott
Louisa May Alcott

American novelist, famous for works such as 'Little Women'. Born on November 29, 1832, and died on March 6, 1888. more

You May Also Like

“Life isn’t about being strong or pretending we are strong to impress others. It takes courage to be authentic with our feelings and acknowledge that real strength comes from recognizing our moments of weakness.”

EmotionCourageDepressionEmotionsMemoirAuthenticityCourageousPretenseAuthentic
Book:The Emotional Gift: Memoir of a Highly Sensitive Person Who Overcame Depression
Create image

“Never May the Fruit Be Plucked” Never, never may the fruit be plucked from the bough And gathered into barrels. He that would eat of love must eat it where it hangs. Though the branches bend like reeds, Though the ripe fruit splash in the grass or wrinkle on the tree, He that would eat of love may bear away with him Only what his belly can hold, Nothing in the apron, Nothing in the pockets. Never, never may the fruit be gathered from the bough And harvested in barrels. The winter of love is a cellar of empty bins, In an orchard soft with rot.”

LovePoetryEmotionPoem
Book:The Harp-Weaver and Other Poems
Create image

“The doctors found one electrode contact that greatly relieved the woman's symptoms. But the unexpected happened when the electric current passed through one of the four contact sites on the patient's left side, precisely two millimeters below the contact that improved her condition. The patient stopped her ongoing conversation quite abruptly, cast her eyes down and to her right side, then leaned slightly to the right and her emotional expression became one of sadness. After a few seconds she suddenly began to cry. Tears flowed and her entire demeanor was one of profound misery. Soon she was sobbing. As this display continued she began talking about how deeply sad she felt, how she had no energies left to go on living in this manner, how hopeless and exhausted she was. [ . . . ] The physician in charge of the treatment realized that this unusual event was due to the current and aborted the procedure. About ninety seconds after the current was interrupted the patient's behavior returned to normal. [ . . . ] Why would this patient's brain evoke the kind of thoughts that normally cause sadness considering that the emotion and feeling were unmotivated by the appropriate stimuli? The answer has to do with the dependence of feeling on emotion and the intriguing ways of one's memory. When the emotion sadness is deployed, feelings of sadness instantly follow. In short order, the brain also brings forth the kind of thoughts that normally cause the emotion sadness and feelings of sadness. This is because associative learning has linked emotions with thoughts in a rich two-way network. Certain thoughts evoke certain emotions and vice-versa.”

EmotionMemoryFeelingCognition
Book:Looking for Spinoza: Joy, Sorrow, and the Feeling Brain
Create image