To live is so startling, it leaves but little room for other occupations.

Written in a letter (winter 1871) from Emily Dickinson to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, reflecting on how vivid and absorbing the experience of being alive feels, leaving little mental space for other pursuits.

Dickinson suggests that the sheer intensity of existence can be so consuming that it crowds out other activities; life itself demands attention and can feel like the primary occupation.

To live is so startling, it leaves but little room for other occupations, though friends are, if possible, an event more fair.

To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else.