I have and always will consider Sylvia Plath to be my soul's best friend. I own every one of her books and find myself re-reading them during various dynamics of my life. Sylvia Plath's writing is turbulent, dark, bipolar, chilling, heartfelt, and profound all in one. However, she is known to be one of the most stimulating and admirable writers of the 20th century because of her strong desires of life, love, and travel.
Here are a few of my favorite quotes:
1. "What horrifies me most is the idea of being useless: well-educated, brilliantly promising, and fading out into an indifferent middle age."
--Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath
2. "Can you understand? Someone, somewhere, can you understand me a little, love me little? For all my despair, for all my ideals, for all that- I love life. But it is hard, and I have so much- so very much to learn."
--Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath
3. "And when at last you find someone to whom you feel you can pour out your soul, you stop in shock at the words you utter- they are so rusty, so ugly, so meaningless and feeble from being kept in the small cramped dark inside you so long."
--Sylvia Plath, Unabridged Work of Sylvia Plath
4. "I took a deep breath and listened to the old bray of my heart: I am, I am, I am."
--Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar
She reminds herself to take a step back from the material word. I interpret the "I am, I am, I am" as the sound of a heartbeat reassuring her that she's still alive, breathing, and existing.
5. "I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story...
...From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn't quite make out. I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet."
--Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar
As Sylvia Plath explained her life branching out into many risks, wonders, and opportunities... Your life can blossom and divide into any pieces that will always work in your favor. Always keep this in mind.
6. "I must get back into the world of my creative mind: otherwise, I die. I must be lean and write and make worlds beside this to live in."
--Sylvia Plath
I have come to realize that this is how to illuminate to very aspect of being alive.
7. "So many people are shut up tight inside themselves like boxes, yet they would open up, unfolding quite wonderfully, if only you were interested in them."
--Sylvia Plath
8. "How we need another soul to cling to, another body to keep us warm. To rest and trust; to give your confidence: I need this, I need someone to put myself into."
--Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath
9. "She stared at her reflection in the glosses shop windows as if to make sure, moment by moment, that she continued to exist."
--Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar
All sorts of things in this world behave like mirrors.
10. "Yes, I was infatuated with you: I still am. No one has ever heightened such a keen capacity of physical sensation in me. I cut you out because I couldn't stand being a passing fancy. Before I give my body, I must give my thoughts, my mind, my dreams. And you weren't having any of those."
--Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath
11. "I like theatre, books, concerts, paintings, and travel- all of which cost more than intangible dreams can buy."
--Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath
I couldn't agree more with this. Beautiful places do a wonderful job of either intimidating people or making them feel at home. The problem is the ones who are intimidated don't see the beauty and the ones that feel at home don't admire it. It is our job to see the beauty around us and admire it with all our hearts because it's art that gives us these feelings. It is art that has been created all around us by millions of incredible artists.
Last but not least, my favorite quote of all time...
12. "I can never read all the books I want; I can never be all the people I want and live all the lives I want. I can never train myself in all the skills I want. And why do I want? I want to live and feel all the shades, tones, and variations of mental and physical experience possible in my life. And I am horribly limited."
--Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath
Love. Love. Love. Love. Love.
At the age of 30, Sylvia Plath took her life. By this point, she had already become such a dear part of the literacy community that she nor her writing would ever wither away. A lot of the reasons for Sylvia's death is told to have gone to the grave with her, but we can infer that a lot of the reasons lie within her writing and her story.
While I don't want to end this on a depressing note, I will say that her writing will always remain as an embedment on my heart. Sylvia Plath captures what it truly means to be alive. She taught me that if you appreciate life, you'll find that you have more of it.
Thank you.
