Quotes About Symbolism

A notorious inability to express emotions makes human beings the only animals capable of suicide. An angry dog does not commit suicide, it bites the person or thing that made it angry. But an angry human sulks in its room and later shoots itself, leaving a silent note. Man is the symbolic, metaphorical creature: unable to communicate my anger, I would symbolize it in my own death.

Above, great constellations wheeled to which our bonfire sparks ascended in their tiny mimicry

And it's only symbolism puts magic and meaning into anything. You of all people should know that. We can make love amongst the gods, or we can screw on a dirty mattress. It's our choice.

Meat movies... In which the horror rests with the idea of doing to humans what humans do each day to trees in their thousands. Yes, as a symbol... Close your eyes, Mrs. Cable. Close your eyes and shout 'timber'.

Beneath this mask there is more than flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea, Mr. Creedy, and ideas are bulletproof.

At times, I wear it in tribute to their sacrifice. Other times, I wear it because it goes with this skirt.

what I preferred was not statues but the bird in the statue's hair.

Some people believe that a persons spirit is captured when they are photographed. I invite those of you who dont believe that to take a photograph of someone you love a stab it repeatedly with a pair of scissors. Maybe they do capture something of the soul.

There is a language older by far and deeper than words. It is the language of bodies, of body on body, wind on snow, rain on trees, wave on stone. It is the language of dream, gesture, symbol, memory. We have forgotten this language. We do not even remember that it exists.

Lakshmi massages Vishnu's feet. Is this male domination? Kali stands on Shiva's chest. Is this female domination? Shiva is half a woman. Is this gender equality? Why then is Shakti never half a man?

The elephant goad represents Yama, the god of death and bondage. Ganesha thus acknowledges the life-giving aspect of nature as well as the life-taking aspect of nature.

Myth is truth which is subjective, intuitive, cultural and grounded in faith.

As per some Vedic marriage rites, a woman is first given in marriage to the romantic moon-god, Chandra, then to the highly sensual Gandharva named Vishwavasu, then to the fire-god, Agni, who cleanses and purifies all things, and finally to her human husband. Thus, the 'four men' quota is exhausted. Clearly this was an attempt of society to prevent Hindu women from remarrying.

Serpents are worshipped across India to ensure the fertility of land, as well as for children.

According to rationalists, Hanuman did not fly, he swam. In the Valmiki Ramayana, words for swimming and flying are used interchangeably.

In Vyasa's tale, that which seeks is visualised as male; that which is sought is female. The feeder is male; the food is female. The male creates life outside itself; the female creates life within itself. The being was the feeder, hence male, and the world around was food, hence female.

There are many stories of Ganesha's birth besides the one in which Shiva beheads Vinayaka. In one story, Ganesha is born when Shiva and Shakti make love taking the form of elephants. In another, Shiva creates a child of his own image for the pleasure of Shakti but since he looks too much like the father, Shakti replaces his head with that of an elephant.

At a symbolic level, the forest and field are metaphors for the mind. The forest is the untamed mind. The field is the domesticated mind. The consciousness is the farmer. If one is conscious like Ram, faithful and attentive, the mind will be like Sita. When one is conscious like Gautam, ignoring the mind, the mind will be seduced by temptation. In the absence of awareness, the mind will be wild with no direction.

Devdutt Pattanaik

Sudarshan means a positive outlook. The chakra's whirring round God's right index finger is indicative of rhythmic order.

The ordinal directions are represented by the moon (the north-east), the sun (the south-west), fire (the north-west) and wind (the south-east).

In Hindu art, a woman depicted holding a lotus bud is deemed a virgin; when she holds a lotus in bloom, she is regarded as mature and experienced.

Even later, the red colour was replaced by saffron colour, indicating celibacy and continence, a rejection of all things sensory.

The west, for Perkins's post-war generation, symbolized everything from the end of the rainbow to a last resort. Its vastness was double-edged, for chaos as well as freedom thrives on opportunity.