Love, whether newly born, or aroused from a deathlike slumber, must always create sunshine, filling the heart so full of radiance, this it overflows upon the outward world.
Nathaniel HawthorneRead
I have laughed, in bitterness and agony of heart, at the contrast between what I seem and what I am!
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects the struggle between one's external appearance and inner reality, highlighting the pain of self-awareness.
Nathaniel Hawthorne's quote delves into the profound conflict between one's outward persona and internal truth. It expresses a feeling of bitterness and anguish that arises from recognizing the disparity between how one is perceived by others and how one truly feels. This acknowledgment of a hidden self causes a deep emotional turmoil, suggesting that many people may grapple with similar feelings of incongruence in their lives.
Themes
Self-AwarenessIdentityEmotionsContrastTruth
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a personal development seminar to discuss self-acceptance.
More from Nathaniel Hawthorne
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There is so much wretchedness in the world, that we may safely take the word of any mortal professing to need our assistance; and, even should we be deceived, still the good to ourselves resulting from a kind act is worth more than the trifle by which we purchase it.
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Let men tremble to win the hand of woman, unless they win along with it the utmost passion of her heart! Else it may be their miserable fortune, when some mightier touch than their own may have awakened all her sensibilities, to be reproached even for the calm content, the marble image of happiness, which they will have imposed upon her as the warm reality.
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The thing you set your mind on is the thing you ultimately become.
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I discovered later, and I'm still discovering right up to this moment, that is it only by living completely in this world that one learns to have faith. By this-worldliness I mean living unreservedly in life's duties, problems, successes and failures. In so doing we throw ourselves completely into the arms of God, taking seriously, not our own sufferings, but those of God in the world. That, I think, is faith.
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