“The door through which he had glimpsed such wondrous light, he had walked through. He had encountered both beauty and pain. Now he understood that was how it would always be—no matter where he went in the world.”
This quote from Margi Preus beautifully captures the idea that life is a mixture of beauty and pain, and that this duality is inevitable no matter where one goes in the world. The protagonist in the story experiences both the wonders and struggles of life, coming to the realization that this is simply a part of the human experience. This quote serves as a poignant reminder that while life may have its challenges, it also holds moments of immense beauty that make it all worthwhile.
In this quote by Margi Preus, we see a reflection on the inevitability of encountering both beauty and pain in life. This sentiment holds modern relevance as individuals continue to navigate through a world filled with ups and downs, reminding us to embrace the complexities of existence.
“The door through which he had glimpsed such wondrous light, he had walked through. He had encountered both beauty and pain. Now he understood that was how it would always be—no matter where he went in the world.” - Margi Preus
As we reflect on this quote by Margi Preus, we are prompted to think about the duality of beauty and pain in our own lives. The journey of encountering both beauty and pain is a universal experience, and it raises important questions for self-reflection. Here are some questions to ponder:
“All this had always been and he had never seen it; he was never present. Now he was present and belonged to it. Through his eyes he saw light and shadows; through his mind he was aware of moon and stars (p. 38).”
“He had been through a good deal in the course of the Great Quest — he had seen beautiful things and horrible things — but up until now he had not known that one and the same creature can be both, that beauty can be terrifying.”
“He had been contemptuous of those who wrecked. You did not have to like it because you understood it. He could beat anything, he thought, because no thing could hurt him if he did not care.All right. Now he would not care for death. One thing he had always dreaded was the pain. He could stand pain as well as any man, until it went on too long, and wore him out, but here he had something that had hurt frightfully and just when he had felt it breaking him, the pain had stopped.”
“He had known in times of the greatest misery or danger that his dreams of home, in which all things seemed beautiful, were in essence his longing for the woman for whom he had been made. That was how, as a soldier, he had seen it, and it was how he had come through.”
“Andras went through the Sortie doors and walked out into a city that no longer contained his brother. He walked on benumbed feet in the new black Oxfords his brother had brought him from Hungary. He didn’t care who passed him on the street or where he was going. If he had stepped off the curb into the air instead of down into the gutter, if he had climbed the void above the cars and between the buildings until he was looking down at the rooftops with their red-clay chimney pots, their irregular curving grid, and if he had then kept climbing until he was wading through the slough of low-lying clouds in the winter sky, he would have felt no shock or joy, no wonder or surprise, just the same leaden dampness in his limbs.”