"Gift from the Sea" Quotes
A timeless reflection on the complexities of womanhood and life's essential simplicity, inspired by the author's solitary sojourn by the sea.
nonfiction | 130 pages | Published in 1955
Quotes
The most exhausting thing in life, I have discovered, is being insincere.
Woman must be the pioneer in this turning inward for strength. In a sense, she has always been the pioneer.
I do not believe that sheer suffering teaches. If suffering alone taught, all the world would be wise, since everyone suffers. To suffering must be added mourning, understanding, patience, love, openness, and the willingness to remain vulnerable.
The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach—waiting for a gift from the sea.
The only real security is not in owning or possessing, not in demanding or expecting, not in hoping, even. Security in a relationship lies neither in looking back to what it was, nor forward to what it might be, but living in the present and accepting it as it is now.
One cannot collect all the beautiful shells on the beach. One can collect only a few, and they are more beautiful if they are few.
The light shed by any good relationship illuminates all relationships.
Woman must come of age by herself.
One learns first of all in beach living the art of shedding; how little one can get along with, not how much.
The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient.
