Men are but children of a larger growth, Our appetites as apt to change as theirs, And full as craving too, and full as vain.
John DrydenRead
Beauty, like ice, our footing does betray; Who can tread sure on the smooth, slippery way: Pleased with the surface, we glide swiftly on, And see the dangers that we cannot shun.
Interpretation
Beauty can be deceptive and lead us to overlook the dangers beneath its surface.
This quote by John Dryden reflects on the nature of beauty and its potentially misleading qualities. It suggests that while we may be attracted to the superficial allure of beauty, it can often conceal underlying dangers that we fail to recognize until it's too late. The metaphor of ice illustrates how beauty can create a false sense of security, leading us to glide along without awareness of the risks that lie beneath.
In practice
This quote could be used in a discussion about the dangers of superficial judgment in relationships.
Men are but children of a larger growth, Our appetites as apt to change as theirs, And full as craving too, and full as vain.
Of no distemper, of no blast he died, _x000D_ But fell like autumn fruit that mellow'd long: _x000D_ Even wonder'd at, because he dropp'd no sooner. _x000D_ Fate seem'd to wind him up for fourscore years; _x000D_ Yet freshly ran he on ten winters more; _x000D_ Till like a clock worn out with eating time, _x000D_ The wheels of weary life at last stood still.
Or hast thou known the world so long in vain?
Shame on the body for breaking down while the spirit perseveres.
Love reckons hours for months, and days for years; and every little absence is an age.
And write whatever Time shall bring to pass_x000D_ _x000D_ With pens of adamant on plates of brass.
My father was the superintendent of the churches in the state of Montana. He was content in his beliefs. He befit the term 'true Christian.' He would turn the other cheek. He was truly a man of peace.
We must learn to talk with each other, and we mutually must understand and accept one another in our extraordinary differences.
Unsatisfied desire is the characteristic feature of human life. That is the common fact out of which both pessimism and optimism are constructed. Dwell on the impossibility of ever getting a state of complete and permanent satisfaction with what you have, and you become a pessimist. Dwell on the opportunity for endless growth and conquest which this same fact makes possible, and you become an optimist.
Sport in the sense of a mass-spectacle, with death to add to the underlying excitement, comes into existence when a population has been drilled and regimented and depressed to such an extent that it needs at least a vicarious participation in difficult feats of strength or skill or heroism in order to sustain its waning life-sense.
Truly, I would not hang a dog by my will, much more a man who hath any honesty in him.
Children play soldier. That makes sense. But why do soldiers play children?
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