What is your interpretation and opinion of this quote?

Question

"There are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before."

-Willa Cather

Answer 1

I think it's true but i dont want to explain y (2 lazy)

Answer 2

It means that nothing new really happens to anyone, but (since it's new to the individual) everyone lives as if it is new.

There are more than two or three, but I'd agree there are a limited number of stories if you look at everyone from a distance.  Boy grows up and becomes a success, boy grows up and runs away in rebellion, returns and becomes a success. Boy dies young of small pox.  Girl grows up gets married and has babies.  etc, etc, etc.

I dunno, seems rather jaded to me to think that human lives are all pretty much the same.  Taoists knew thousands of years ago that "try as you may, you can't step on the same piece of river twice".  How could two lives be the same?

Willa Cather needed a stiff drink and a soft woman, that's what I think.

Answer 3

To me, it means that everyone has the same overall experiences in life but the details make it different enough to make each person believe it is their own. For example, a broken heart.