M.B. Prt 2- Quotes to ponder...

Here are some specific quotes I wanted to share that interested me:

1) Pg. 255- the image the Delphine has of stacking the men in her life the way chairs used to be stacked on her belly.

I was struck by how precarious this image was, by how much she had to balance all their needs. And yet, if one small thing went wrong the whole bit would be upended and collapse in a heap. Sometimes, I feel like my life is like this; I juggle so many things and feel like I am barely getting by. I fear the day that something will go wrong and cause my happy little life to fall apart. Additionally, I have had very little severe tragedy in my life. I am thankful for this of course but sometimes, I worry what will happen when it is my turn. Life is so precarious. A car crash or death happens in just seconds. And then nothing is the same. I recall Mazarine’s description of entering the curtains surrounding Franz’s bed, the before and after. Things could and will change so quickly…this is probably silly and irrational but I could really relate to her image of a teetering balance of life.

2) Pg. 267 “She saw that from her life there was a woman shaped hole, a cutout that led to a mysterious place. Through it, her mother, then Eva, and now Clarisse had walked. If only she could plunge her arms through and drag them back.”

Do you feel you have, or had at one point, a hole in your life? How (with what/who) did you fill it?

3) This book is full of so many beautiful quotes about the internal struggle of emotions, how people attempt to cope with what life presents them. Here are two:

a)Pg. 277 “Nothing is by accident, nothing is by chance, she told herself. I went in to see that delver of minds for a very good reason: whether or not she could see the whole thing, I wanted to get my own mind clear. I had to hear myself say those things, had to hear out loud what I don’t even know I am thinking inside…put it all out where I can see the shape of it.”

For me, writing out what I am thinking often reveals beautiful insight. When I pull out all my thoughts and force them into sentences they often create such surprising shapes and solutions. Talking with good friends or a spouse works too!

b)Pg. 365 “She knew she shouldn’t have agreed to see him. Her presence leveled the defenses she’d put up and made her wretchedly alive (sic) with longings, thoughts, and hopes.”

She said something here that I would have never even thought to put in words but that I have experienced before and find to be very truthful. We often put up defenses to ‘protect’ ourselves but what if we would let them be knocked apart (a SCARY thing indeed)? Would we be open to much more vivid living? To be ‘wretchedly alive’ is something I am very interested in.