There are many sham diamonds in this life which pass for real, and vice versa.
William Makepeace ThackerayRead
Which, I wonder, brother reader, is the better lot, to die prosperous and famous, or poor and disappointed? To have, and to be forced to yield; or to sink out of life, having played and lost the game? That must be a strange feeling, when a day of our life comes and we say, 'To-morrow, success or failure won't matter much; and the sun will rise, and all the myriads of mankind go to their work or their pleasure as usual, but I shall be out of the turmoil.'
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the nature of life and the contrasting outcomes of success and failure.
Thackeray poses a thought-provoking question about the value of prosperity and fame compared to poverty and disappointment. He suggests that ultimately, regardless of our successes or failures, life continues on with the routine existence of humanity. The contemplation of death brings into focus whether it is better to have experienced success or to go quietly without the weight of ambition, alluding to the inevitability of mortality and the transient nature of life.
Themes
LifeSuccessFailureMortalityAmbition
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a graduation speech to remind students about the transient nature of success.
More from William Makepeace Thackeray
All quotes →There's a great power of imagination about these little creatures, and a creative fancy and belief that is very curious to watch . . . I am sure that horrid matter-of-fact child-rearers . . . do away with the child's most beautiful privilege. I am determined that Anny shall have a very extensive and instructive store of learning in Tom Thumbs, Jack-the-Giant-Killers, etc.
William Makepeace ThackerayRead
When you look at me, when you think of me, I am in paradise.
William Makepeace ThackerayRead
And in those varieties of pain of which we spoke anon, what a part of confidante has that poor teapot played ever since the kindly plant was introduced among us! What myriads of women have cried over it, to be sure! What sickbeds it has smoked by! What fevered lips have received refreshment from out of it! Nature meant very gently by women when she made that teaplant; and with a little thought what a series of pictures and groups the fancy may conjure up and assemble round the teapot and cup!
William Makepeace ThackerayRead
The play is done; the curtain drops,_x000D_ _x000D_ Slow falling to the prompter's bell_x000D_ _x000D_ A moment yet the actor stops_x000D_ _x000D_ And looks around to say farewell.
William Makepeace ThackerayRead
The moral world has no particular objection to vice, but an insuperable repugnance to hearing vice called by its proper name.
William Makepeace ThackerayRead
Similar quotes
How could so many intelligent people be so grievously wrong for such an extended period of time? How could they ignore so much overwhelming evidence that contradicted their most basic theories? These questions, too, deserve their own discipline: the sociology of error.
Steven JohnsonRead
And when that crop grew, and was harvested, no man had crumbled a hot clod in his fingers and let the earth sift past his fingertips. No man had touched the seed, or lusted for the growth. Men ate what they had not raised, had no connection with the bread. The land bore under iron, and under iron gradually died; for it was not loved or hated, it had no prayers or curses.
John SteinbeckRead
It is dangerous when you start calling people from one part of the world terrorists or fanatic, and you reduce them to some abstract notion. If evil has a geographical place, and if the evil has a name, that is the beginning of fascism. Real life is not this way. You have fanatics and narrow-minded people everywhere.
Marjane SatrapiRead
All silencing of discussion is an assumption of infallibility.
John Stuart MillRead
That seems to me the greatest American danger we're all in, that we'll bargain away the experience of being alive for the appearance of it.
Mike NicholsRead
The Chinese government wants me to say that for many centuries Tibet has been part of China. Even if I make that statement, many people would just laugh. And my statement will not change past history. History is history.
Dalai LamaRead