There are many things which we can afford to forget which it is yet well to learn.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.Read
Why should you row a boat race? Why endure the long months of pain in preparation for a fierce half hour that will leave you all but dead? Does anyone ask the question? Is there anyone who would not go through all the costs, and more, for the moment when anguish breaks into triumph or even for the glory of having nobly lost? Is life less than a boat race? If a man will give the blood in his body to win the one, will he spend all the might of his soul to prevail in the other?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the sacrifices and efforts people are willing to make in life for moments of glory or achievement, much like a boat race.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. uses the metaphor of a boat race to explore the idea of sacrifice and the pursuit of greatness in life. He questions why individuals endure hardships and challenges, likening these struggles to the effort put into preparing for a race. The essence of the quote highlights that life itself is a series of races where triumphs, losses, and the experience of striving are valuable, suggesting that the journey and the passion behind our pursuits are what truly matter.
Themes
SacrificeStruggleGloryAchievementLifeEffort
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about perseverance during hard times.
More from Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
All quotes →On the whole, I am on the side of the unregenerate who affirms the worth of life as an end in itself, as against the saints who deny it.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.Read
If you don't know what you want, you will probably never get it.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.Read
The main part of intellectual education is not the acquisition of facts, but learning how to make facts live.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.Read
Beware how you take away hope from another human being.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.Read
If there is any principle of the Constitution that more imperatively calls for attachment than any other it is the principle of free thought, not free thought for those who agree with us but freedom for the thought that we hate.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.Read
Similar quotes
Now Catherine would die. That was what you did. You died. You did not know what it was about. You never had time to learn. They threw you in and told you the rules and the first time they caught you off base they killed you. Or they killed you gratuitously like Aymo. Or gave you the syphilis like Rinaldi. But they killed you in the end. You could count on that. Stay around and they would kill you.
Ernest HemingwayRead
Off the floor I'm really laid back, like nothing really fazes me too much. But on the floor I do get emotional and a little carried away. However, I started playing when I was 13 to have fun with my teammates, and that never stopped. I enjoy traveling and having fun in the locker room with the guys. Life is too short to be miserable.
Dirk NowitzkiRead
Standing on the fringes of life... offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor.
Stephen ChboskyRead
Don't worry about who doesn't like you, who has more, or who's doing what.
Erma BombeckRead
She spoke of evenings in the country making popcorn on the porch. Once this would have gladdened my heart but because her heart was not glad when she said it I knew there was nothing in it but the idea of what one should do.
Jack KerouacRead
He needs to go rub his soul against life.
Barbara KingsolverRead