As the arteries grow hard, the heart grows soft.
Interpretation
As people become rigid in their beliefs, they may lose their emotional capacity and compassion.
H. L. Mencken's quote suggests that as one's mindset becomes inflexible, akin to hardened arteries, the ability to empathize and feel deeply may diminish, leading to a 'softness' of character. This contrast underscores the importance of remaining open and compassionate, as rigidity can affect not only physical health but also emotional well-being and relationships with others.
In practice
During a discussion on personal growth, one might say this quote to emphasize the need for adaptability.
I know a good many men of great learning-that is, men born with an extraordinary eagerness and capacity to acquire knowledge. One and all, they tell me that they can't recall learning anything of any value in school. All that schoolmasters managed to accomplish with them was to test and determine the amount of knowledge that they had already acquired independently-and not infrequently the determination was made clumsily and inaccurately.
It takes a long while for a naturally trustful person to reconcile himself to the idea that after all God will not help him
It is the theory of all modern civilized governments that they protect and foster the liberty of the citizen; it is the practice of all of them to limit its exercise, and sometimes very narrowly.
The central belief of every moron is that he is the victim of a mysterious conspiracy against his common rights and true deserts.
The cure for the evils of democracy is more democracy.
It is my conviction that no normal man ever fell in love, within the ordinary meaning of the term, after the age of thirty.
Of all the traps and pitfalls in life, self-disesteem is the deadliest, and the hardest to overcome: for it is a pit designed and dug by our own hands, summed up in the phrase, 'It's no use - I can't do it.'
Transforma as tuas feridas em sabedoria!
Like Jesus, every human being has enough memories in his past to occupy his time and thoughts continually. It is not the remembrance of these incidents but the reliving of them that creates havoc in our souls.
Men lose their tempers in defending their taste.
Every positive thing in your life represents a single unique blessing. Every negative thing in your life has the opportunity to become a double blessing. For when you turn a negative into a positive, you gain twice. You are no longer burdened with the negative situation, and in addition to that you are strengthened by a new positive force.
Treat every piece of advice as a gift or a compliment and simply say, βThank you.
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