Bohemia is nothing more than the little country in which you do not live. If you try to obtain citizenship in it, at once the court and retinue pack the royal archives and treasure and move away beyond the hills.
O. HenryRead
You can't appreciate home till you've left it, money till it's spent, your wife till she's joined a woman's club, nor Old Glory till you see it hanging on a broomstick on the shanty of a consul in a foreign town.
Interpretation
What this quote means
We often take for granted the things we have until we experience their absence or a different perspective.
This quote by O. Henry suggests that appreciation often comes through contrast; we might not fully value our home, financial security, or close relationships until we are distanced from them or see them in a different light. By mentioning specific examples, O. Henry illustrates how familiarity can breed complacency, and the true significance of these elements of life often becomes clear only when we lack them or view them from another perspective.
Themes
AppreciationHomePerspectiveRelationshipsValue
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about appreciating family after a long trip.
More from O. Henry
All quotes →It's said that love makes the world go around. Let me tell you, the announcement lacks verification. It's the wind from the dinner horn that does it.
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Yes, I get dry spells. Sometimes I can't turn out a thing for three months. When one of those spells comes on I quit trying to work and go out and see something of life. You can't write a story that's got any life in it by sitting at a writing table and thinking. You've got to get out into the streets, into the crowds, talk with people, and feel the rush and throb of real life-that's the stimulant for a story writer.
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But the best, in my opinion, was the home life in the little flat--the ardent, voluble chats after the day's study; the cozy dinners and fresh, light breakfasts; the interchange of ambitions--ambitions interwoven each with the other's or else inconsiderable--the mutual help and inspiration; and--overlook my artlessness--stuffed olives and cheese sandwiches at 11 p.m.
O. HenryRead
She had become so thoroughly annealed into his life that she was like the air he breathed--necessary but scarcely noticed.
O. HenryRead
He seemed to be made of sunshine and blood-red tissue and clear weather.
O. HenryRead
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