Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Sinéad Gleeson

Quote by Sinéad Gleeson

Work

Constellations: Reflections From Life

Browse quotes and source details for this work. more

Author

Sinéad Gleeson

Browse famous quotes and profile details for Sinéad Gleeson. more

You May Also Like

“Why had this penguin come to mean so much? That, at least, is easy to explain. Anybody who suddenly moves far from family and friends and the pets they love, feels a .. vulnerable emptiness. It is inevitable; even despite the sensational compensation. Nature upholds a vacuum and it was into this space that Juan Salvador rushed. At first, he occupied it, and then he filled and dominated it. It was not big enough for him, and so he stretched it; expanded it beyond the measure. I didn't think about it, it just happened; and then, he was gone. Of course, time moves on and new family and friends and pets jostle for position in our heart, but the vacancy left by previous occupants never fills. We keep our loved ones alive throughout our memory, our conversations and our stories, but we don't necessarily choose to reveal how much they really meant. We don't have to. Anybody who lost a pet knows.”

LostPetLoved OnesVacancyPenguinOur Heart
Book:The Penguin Lessons
Create image

“Patient stated that she felt like a burden to loved ones" - much later, when I read the notes from the emergency room, I did not have any recollection of the conversation. 'A burden to loved ones': this language must have been provided to me. I would never use the phrase in my thinking or writing. But my resistance has little to do with avoiding a platitude. To say a burden is to grant oneself weight in other people's lives: to call them loved ones is to fake one's ability to love. One does not always want to subject oneself to self-interrogation imposed by a cliché.”

BurdenLoved OnesClichePlatitude
Book:Dear Friend, from My Life I Write to You in Your Life
Create image