Symbolism Quotes

“I was then at the height of my two-facedness: that is, outside I seemed one way, inside I was another; outside false, inside true. And so I made pleasant little noises that showed both modesty and appreciation, but inside I was making a vow to erase from my mind, line by line, every word of that poem.”
― Jamaica Kincaid, Lucy

“Dream is the personalized myth, myth is the depoersonalized dream; both myth and dream are symbolic in the same general way of the dynamics of the psyche.”
― Joseph Campbell, The Hero With a Thousand Faces

“It is up to each individual consciousness to develop its own symbol or symbols, its
own symbolic universe.”
― Henry Corbin, Jung, Buddhism, and the Incarnation of Sophia: Unpublished Writings from the Philosopher of the Soul

“A butterfly that doesn't break out from its chrysalis can't survive.”
― Debbie Rigaud, Simone Breaks All the Rules

“Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming.
This is a fault.
Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated.
For these there is hope.
They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean only Beauty.”
― Oscar Wilde., The Picture of Dorian Gray

“My very first necklace, from my grandmother, had a swan pendant. Now, as an adult, I do still wear a swan pendant and it's my favourite one. I have been on dates wearing it and always get the same comment: "Did you know that swans may look graceful and elegant but they can break your arms with their wings?" They always say it like it's a bad thing. I think it's one of the most fantastic things in nature!”
― C. JoyBell C.

“He was attaching meanings to words of a symbolical kind. A serious symptom, to be noted on the card.”
― Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway

“THE NINE PLANTS OF DESIRE

~ Gloxinia--The mythical plant of love at first sight.

~ Mexican cycad--The plant of immortality. A living dinosaur straight from the Jurassic period.

~ Cacao--The chocolate tree of food and fortune.

~ Moonflower--Bringer of fertility and procreation.

~ Cannabis sativa in the form of sinsemilla--The plant of female sexuality.

~ Lily of the valley--Delivers life force. In a pinch, this beautiful plant can replace digitalis as medication for an ailing heart.

~ Mandrake--According to both William Shakespeare and the Holy Bible, this is the plant of magic.

~ Chicory--The plant of freedom. Offering invisibility to those who dare to ingest its bitter, milky juice.

~ Datura--The plant of mind travel and high adventure. Bringer of visions and dreams of the future.”
― Margot Berwin, Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire

“The same pattern of the creation by supernatural gods of an ordered Universe out of Chaos occurs over and over again in various mythologies, and in a sense, that is the only story possible.”
― Isaac Asimov, Beginnings: The Story of Origins

“Amid the coal-fired fug of industrialism, people began to recognize that the unchecked spread of civilization could be toxic, and the wilderness, by comparison, came to represent cleanliness and health. Quite suddenly, the symbolic polarity of the word wilderness was reversed: it went from being wicked to being holy.”
― Robert Moor, On Trails: An Exploration

“When we bury the X, we uncover complexity and recognize the need for responsibility.

Be brave.”
― Monaristw

“Wouldn't the crow, that ubiquitous trickster, make a more compelling and accurate national symbol for the United States than the bald eagle?”
― Sherman Alexie, War Dances

“آه يا طائر الطفولة النائح
قل لي لِمَّ كل هذا النواح؟
قل لي لِمَ كل هذا العويل؟
آه يا طائري الذي صاحبني منذ الطفولة
لِمَ طبعت نواحك
وألصقت عويلك وآهاتك
في كل ضحكاتي
في كل ابتساماتي
في ملامحي
في نبراتي؟
آه يا رفيق الطفولة
لقد بات الجميع يتجنبني بسببك
لئلا أذكرهم بعويلهم الذي دفنوه
وصرخاتهم التي أخرسوها
ليتمكنوا من مواصلة العيش ...”
― Louis Yako

“We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it.
The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely.
All art is quite useless.”
― Oscar Wilde., The Picture of Dorian Gray

“When I close my eyes
I see the Universe
A vast of darkness
Where light strives to rise”
― Jazalyn, The Universe in My Eyes: Existential Love and Life

“That car is a symbol of human oppression and greed. Sometimes it’s driven by a fallen nun, or a crooked priest. Perhaps even the Devil himself?”
― Bibiana Krall, Volga Black

“The feeling filters in for an instant, then rushes out, leaving lasting watermarks of nostalgia. Neurotransmitters will only impart tired old platitudes of common structure: trite anecdotes with predictable elements. No doubt the perception of this Moment will recede back in with the waves and leave me once again looking to symbols for recollection. But then, perhaps it is wrong of me to think of it this way.

It is, yes.”
― Ashim Shanker, trenches parallax leapfrog

“As we light our Advent candles, adding a new one each week, we move from darkness to light. Our ritual symbolically anticipates the birth or our Savior, Jesus Christ, who will actually move us from darkness to light if we will let Him. Advent invites us to worship at the manger, but if we stop there, we have missed the meaning of Christ’s birth. His advent is the beginning of the path that takes Jesus from the light of the wonderful star that signals His birth, to the terrible darkness of his full and final sacrifice, and then on to the blinding brilliant light of His resurrection, which is the advent of ours. As we return to the manger, let us not forget the meaning of his birth and the purpose of His life. He came to save, deliver, and redeem us: O come, let us adore Him!”
― Jean-Michel Hansen

“National identity is, of course, historically constructed; but it is nevertheless symbolized by a flag and an anthem, materialized by administrative acts and by material boundaries, the object of emotional projections that make people speak, make them act and even, sometimes, fight.”
― Nathalie Heinich, Wat onze identiteit niet is

“Contrary to what a narrowly positivist conception of human sciences would like, these are not only about the real world, but also about two other dimensions, just as important: the imaginary dimension, which governs representations and fictions; and the symbolic dimension, which governs meanings and interpretations, more or less conscious. These three dimensions of reality — the reality of lived situations, the imagination as conveyed by discursive or iconic forms, the symbolism of productions of meaning — cannot be reduced to each other, because they possess their own necessity and coherence.”
― Nathalie Heinich, Wat onze identiteit niet is

“It seems to me that apart from the aptness of the Malay language in the construction of four-lined verses with a AAAA pattern of rhyme, the influence of Ibnu’l-‘Arabi’s and ‘Iraqi’s four-line shi’r and Jami’s ruba’i, the concept of the bayt and the shi’r in Arabic and Persian prosody, the creative genius of the poet, Hamzah’s choice of the four-line shi’r composed of a single bayt could well have been influenced also by the symbolism in the Sufi doctrines.”
― Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, The Origin of the Malay Sha'ir

“The analogy of the fourfold Law Way, Truth and Gnosis in which they are compared to a house may be said to be a static one, and this is because what is aimed at here is comprehension of the concept of the absolute unity of the Way to the Truth; but the spiritual journey itself is a dynamic concept, and hence sometimes the fourfold unity of the Way to the Truth is also to a ship (kapal) whose keel is like the Law, whose planks are like the Way, whose content or merchandise is like the Truth and whose gain is like the spiritual gain of Gnosis.”
― Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, The Origin of the Malay Sha'ir

“A flock of black birds flew by, screeching loudly. Passing through he clouds, they soared into the distant sky. "Do you know what kind of birds those are?" I asked. "They're a type of cuckoo," Honda said. "In Australia, they're called rainbirds. They're thought to sing before stormy weather--it has something to do with their migration patterns." So those were rainbirds.”
― Clarissa Goenawan, Rainbirds

“A screeching noise came from above, shattering the silence. I saw a flock of black birds high above me, but they weren't moving. They were suspended, frozen in the air. Time had stopped for them. I wondered if they would ever fly again, or would they remain there forever? The gray clouds in the distance moved closer. They sky was getting darker, but the birds were still as stone.”
― Clarissa Goenawan, Rainbirds

“The church or mosque, as buildings, are just symbols or beliefs that you carry deep in your heart.”
― Mwanandeke Kindembo

“Many Christians imagine that God is dwelling in the Vatican, Muslims in Mecca, and Jews in Jerusalem. All of these places are too limiting for God.”
― Mwanandeke Kindembo

“Sometimes, [gift] with depth is all.

Memory.”
― Monaristw

“Say mercy is another name
for water. Say water is another

name for escape, or unclenched fist.
After violence, an embrace of singing.”
― Sneha Subramanian Kanta

“A wearable, writing-enhancing object serves several important purposes. First, it helps you transition from the world of everyday living into the fictional realms you’ve created. In the former you are a normal person, working a normal job. In the latter, you are an all-powerful deity capable of laying waste to entire cities with a few taps of the keyboard.”
― Chris Baty, No Plot? No Problem!

“The abuse of symbolism is like the abuse of food or drink: it makes people ill, and so their reactions become deranged.”
― Alfred Korzybski, Science and Sanity: An Introduction to Non-Aristotelian Systems and General Semant