The Brain—is wider than the Sky— Quotes
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The Brain—is wider than the Sky—
For—put them side by side—
The one the other will contain
With ease—and You—beside—The Brain is deeper than the sea—
For—hold them—Blue to Blue—
The one the other will absorb—
As Sponges—Buckets—do—The Brain is just the weight of God—
For—Heft them—Pound for Pound—
And they will differ—if they do—
As Syllable from Sound—
Context
The opening line of this Dickinson poem is all about touting the scope of human imagination. Wider than the sky? Yeah, that's pretty big.
It makes sense that someone who spent most days cooped up at home would place so much value on the human brain. For Dickinson, the mind was the window to the great wide world and everything beyond.
Where you've heard it
This quote makes its way onto inspirational posters and—we're not kidding—a book about migraines.
Probably not quite what Dickinson intended.
Pretentious Factor
If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.
There's not much pretentious about the imagination.