The years passed like the steps of a staircase leading lower and lower. I did not walk any more in the sun or hear the songs of larks like crystal fountains playing against the sky. No hand enfolded mine in the warm clasp of love. My thoughts were again solitary, disintegrate, disharmonious — the music gone. I lived alone in a few pleasant rooms, feeling my life run out aimlessly with the tedious hours: the life of an old maid ran out of my fingertips. Anna Kavan
About This Quote

When a person is no longer young, they begin to look at their life and wonder where it is going. They think about the decisions that they made and how they have been able to live with the regrets of the past. The person becomes very self-conscious and has a difficult time setting new goals. They begin to feel their life is an empty shell devoid of all emotion and passion.

In this quote by Nadine Gordimer, she speaks of the feeling of being an old maid as a woman nearing forty years old. In this situation, a woman feels as though her life has been drained from her as if sand has been poured through her fingers. The sand represents years that have passed since she was young and vibrant, leaving her feeling older than she actually is.

Source: Asylum Piece

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