There are many sham diamonds in this life which pass for real, and vice versa.
William Makepeace ThackerayRead
Come children, let us shut up the box and the puppets, for our play is played out.
Interpretation
This quote reflects on the end of a phase or period of enjoyment, suggesting that it is time to conclude an experience that has been fulfilled.
Thackeray's quote suggests that just as children may play with puppets in a joyous and carefree manner, there comes a time when the play must end, indicating a transition or closure. It acknowledges life's ephemeral nature, reminding us to recognize when a chapter has closed and to embrace the changes that follow.
In practice
During a farewell gathering, this quote can help highlight the significance of cherishing the memories made together.
There are many sham diamonds in this life which pass for real, and vice versa.
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.
When you look at me, when you think of me, I am in paradise.
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!
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.
The moral world has no particular objection to vice, but an insuperable repugnance to hearing vice called by its proper name.
If I had been born in the circus, my parents would have pushed me on that little high wire at four years old. That's when the body is most limber to learn those acrobatics.
It does seem to me that at least some of us have made an idol of exhaustion. The only time we know we have done enough is when we are running on empty and when the ones we love most are the ones we see the least.
Real life is a funny thing, you know. In real life saying the right thing at the right time is beyond crucial.
To be left alone on the tightrope of youthful unknowing is to experience the excruciating beauty of full freedom and the threat of eternal indecision. Few, if any, survive their teens. Most surrender to the vague but murderous pressure of adult conformity. It becomes easier to die and avoid conflict than to maintain a constant battle with the superior forces of maturity.
For the only therapy is life. The patient must learn to live, to live with his split, his conflict, his ambivalence, which no therapy can take away, for if it could, it would take with it the actual spring of life.
The measure of a life, after all, is not its duration, but its donation.
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