Calamities are of two kinds: misfortunes to ourselves, and good fortune to others.
Interpretation
Calamities can affect us negatively while simultaneously benefiting others, highlighting the dual nature of misfortune and fortune.
This quote by Ambrose Bierce reflects on the duality of calamities, suggesting that while we may experience misfortune in our own lives, those very circumstances can lead to beneficial outcomes for others. It highlights the interconnectedness of human experiences, emphasizing that our struggles might pave the way for someone else's good fortune, thus prompting a deeper contemplation of the nature of suffering and success.
In practice
In a speech discussing the importance of empathy, one might use this quote to illustrate how our struggles can lead to opportunities for others.
PALM, n. A species of tree . . . of which the familiar "itching palm" ("Palma hominis") is most widely distributed . . . . This noble vegetable exudes a kind of invisible gum, which may be detected by applying to the bark a piece of gold or silver.
Human nature is pretty well balanced; for every lacking virtue there is a rough substitute that will serve at a pinch--as cunning is the wisdom of the unwise, and ferocity the courage of the coward.
Indigestion: A disease which the patient and his friends frequently mistake for deep religious conviction and concern for the salvation of mankind. As the simple Red Man of the Western Wild put it, with, it must be confessed, a certain force: 'Plenty well, no pray; big belly ache, heap God.'
Disobey n:To celebrate with an appropriate ceremony the maturity of a command
NOUMENON, n. That which exists, as distinguished from that which merely seems to exist, the latter being a phenomenon. The noumenon is a bit difficult to locate; it can be apprehended only by a process of reasoning - which is a phenomenon.
PARDON, v. To remit a penalty and restore to the life of crime. To add to the lure of crime the temptation of ingratitude.
Awake, my St. John! leave all meaner things To low ambition and the pride of kings. Let us (since life can little more supply Than just to look about us, and to die) Expatiate free o'er all this scene of man; A mighty maze! but not without a plan.
To believe in luck, if it were not a solecism so to use the word believe, is skepticism.
You create your own universe as you go along.
As far as you can, get into the habit of asking yourself in relation to any action taken by another: "What is his point of reference here?" But begin with yourself: examine yourself first.
We are the products of editing, rather than of authorship.
The gift of loneliness is sometimes a radical vision of society or one's people that has not previously been taken into account.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.