But the hearts of small children are delicate organs. A cruel beginning in this world can twist them into curious shapes. The heart of a hurt child can shrink so that forever afterward it is hard and pitted as the seed of a peach. Or again, the heart of such a child may fester and swell until it is a misery to carry within the body, easily chafed and hurt by the most ordinary things. Carson McCullers
About This Quote

The quote above is about the beauty and fragility of the heart and how it can be damaged and broken. It can be hard to mend once it has been broken. The quote is comparing the heart to a peach seed and a heart that was broken by cruel words, such as during an argument between siblings, can grow into a hardened fruit.

Source: The Ballad Of The Sad Cafa And Other Stories

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More Quotes By Carson McCullers
  1. But the hearts of small children are delicate organs. A cruel beginning in this world can twist them into curious shapes. The heart of a hurt child can shrink so that forever afterward it is hard and pitted as the seed of a peach. Or...
  2. In his face there came to be a brooding peace that is seen most often in the faces of the very sorrowful or the very wise. But still he wandered through the streets of the town, always silent and alone.
  3. That was the best of all. To speak the truth and be attended.
  4. There are those who know and those who don't know. And for every ten thousand who don't know there's only one who knows. That's the miracle of all time--the fact that these millions know so much but don't know this.
  5. For you see, when us people who know run into each other that's an event. It almost never happens. Sometimes we meet each other and neither guesses that the other is one who knows. That's a bad thing. It's happened to me a lot of...
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