171 Quotes About Symbolism

If in the place of God we write “Reality”, “Nature”, “Unknowable”, or “Zero”, it matters not one whit; the equation is just as obscure; for all we have done is to replace a by b, c, d, or e, not knowing what these letters mean. The symbol has changed, but what it symbolizes remains as inscrutable.

97. I approached the symbol, with its layers of meaning, but when I touched it, it changed into only a beautiful princess.98. I threw the beautiful princess headfirst down the mountain to my acquaintances.99. Who could be relied upon to deal with her.

The associations of signs, whether it be strong or weak, is what distinguishes us humans from the other animals. Rather, it is what makes us complex, problematical, and unpredictable beings.

The abuse of symbolism is like the abuse of food or drink: it makes people ill, and so their reactions become deranged.

The pumpkin itself is a symbol for mortality.

The patch of lawn before it had relapsed into a hayfield; but to the left an overgrown box-garden full of dahlias and rusty rose-bushes encircled a ghostly summer-house of trellis-work that had once been white, surmounted by a wooden Cupid who had lost his bow and arrow but continued to take ineffectual aim.

The Hanlin named his granddaughter Lustrous Jade, for jade was the fairest of stones and possessed five virtues: charity, for its lustre; rectitude, for its translucence; wisdom, for its purity of sound when struck; equity, for its sharp edges that injure none; courage, for it can be broken but not bent.

Sometimes symbolism is too obvious.

I said there are certain flowers that wilt if you put them in a vase'" (368).