Help me find a quote talking about 'the ones we love being on loan to us'

April 27, 2006 11:09 AM

Help me find a quote talking about 'the ones we love being on loan to us'.

Has anyone ever come across a quote about 'the ones we love being on loan to us'?

I'm wracking my brain trying to figure out what the quote was. I remember reading it maybe 15 years ago in a pop psychology piece in Cosmo in a waiting room - it was a idea that struck me as very poetic, but needless to say I can't track down anything about it now. It was in reference to the death of a loved one, and said basically that death is a part of life, and that our loved ones are in a sense 'on loan' to us.

Any poetry, prose or commentary that hints at this notion of 'loved ones on loan' would be much appreciated. Thanks!

posted by rmm to grab bag (6 comments total)

Here's a sermon that talks about that..."Only On Loan."

The Aztec prayer it refers to says the following:

""Oh, only for so short a while you have loaned us to each other.
Because we take form in your act of drawing us,
And we take life in your painting us,
And we breathe in your singing us.
But only for so short a while have you loaned us to each other."
posted by Liosliath at 11:17 AM on April 27, 2006 [1 favorite]

Not about loved ones, and it's only about 10 years old, but just in case,

my body is borrowed
yeah, I got it on loan
for the time in between my mom and some maggots
I don't need anyone to hold me
I can hold my own
I got highways for stretchmarks
see where I've grown

posted by holloway at 3:16 PM on April 27, 2006

Khalil Gibran wrote:

"Your children are not your children. They are the sons and the daughters of life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, and though they are with you they belong not to you."
posted by bukvich at 4:06 PM on April 27, 2006

Yeah, check out Kahlil Gibran -- I think the chapter on Children is probably the only relevant part, but the whole book is there.
posted by salvia at 6:12 PM on April 27, 2006 [1 favorite]

`It is a fearful thing to love that which death can touch'.

Not the quote you're looking for, although what you've said rings bells. I'll keep thinking on it and see if I can work out where I've heard it.
posted by tomble at 7:52 PM on April 27, 2006

wonderful - thanks for the work people. This site never disappoints ;) let me know what you find, tombie. The Gibran might be it...although the Aztec thing is very, very close...
posted by rmm at 10:18 PM on April 27, 2006