We call those poets who are first to mark, Through earth's dull mist the coming of the dawn, Who see in twilight's gloom the first pale spark, While others only note that day is gone.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.Read
The books we read should be chosen with great care, that they may be, as an Egyptian king wrote over his library,'The medicines of the soul.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of selecting books wisely as they can greatly influence our inner well-being.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. highlights that books have a profound impact on our mental and emotional state. Just as medicines heal the body, the right books can nurture and heal our souls, suggesting that we should be deliberate in our choices of literature to foster personal growth and understanding.
Themes
BooksEducationSoulWisdomChoice
In practice
Example use cases
During a book club discussion, one could invoke this quote to stress the importance of thoughtful reading.
More from Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.
All quotes βEvery real thought on every real subject knocks the wind out of somebody or other.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.Read
The very aim and end of our institutions is just this: that we may think what we like and say what we think.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.Read
Don't you stay at home of evenings? Don't you love a cushioned seat in a corner, by the fireside, with your slippers on your feet?
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.Read
Sin has many tools, but a lie is the handle which fits them all.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.Read
Take your needle, my child, and work at your pattern; it will come out a rose by and by. Life is like that - one stitch at a time taken patiently and the pattern will come out all right like the embroidery.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.Read
Similar quotes
In education, we are striving not to teach youth to make a living, but to make a life.
William Allen WhiteRead
Although simulators are great for building step-by-step knowledge of a procedure, the worst thing that can happen in a sim is that you get a bad grade on your performance.
Chris HadfieldRead
No instance exists of a person's writing two language perfectly. That will always appear to be his native language which was most familiar to him in his youth.
Thomas JeffersonRead
There are more books in the world than hours in which to read them. We are thus deeply influenced by books we haven't read, that we haven't had the time to read.
Umberto EcoRead
I can speak of my own criterion for judging whether or not a book is good or bad. I ask of it a single question, From how deep and true an impulse did it spring? Was it written merely to shock? Only to make money? Or was it written to create something more perfect and more lasting than the life experience from which it came?
Lawrence Clark PowellRead
Emphasizing effort gives a child a variable that they can control. They come to see themselves as in control of their success. Emphasizing natural intelligence takes it out of the child's control, and it provides no good recipe for responding to a failure.
Carol S. DweckRead